Ve, We Totally Fooled You
by Patient Harmony
Summary: Part of HCSS. Italy and Poland have put on an act for centuries. They've fooled the world. They, along with their allies, finally reveal their true selves as they start World War III. And the world is completely unprepared.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Prologue**

It was just another world meeting, which meant that it was pure chaos. It was loud, and everyone seemed to have something to say (or rather, shout).

Except for two nations that were occupying their own silent little corner. They were speaking in hushed tones, using a mixture of every Slavic and every Romance language that there was, and then further speaking in code words.

These two nations were Italy and Poland, and if anyone had been paying attention, they would have realised that it was odd and suspicious.

"It's almost time," Italy said.

"Just a few more days until Judgement Day," Poland said. "Will the others know what the signal is?"

"Of course. We've been planning this for centuries. They're ready."

"And none of them would have second thoughts?"

"They wouldn't be able to betray us if they wanted to."

"Then it's set. In a few days, we can _finally_ be ourselves again."

"Checkmate."

 **So, this is the prologue. Italy and Poland will be** _ **way**_ **OOC, along with a few other characters. If you're going to be plotting to take over the world, make sure that you have a few allies on your side that wouldn't be able to betray you.**

 **There will also be a few OCs, but each will have an important part to play, some as allies to Italy and Poland, and others as nations they conquer.**

 **Everyone who is part of their plan will be revealed as time goes by. And I guarantee, some of them might be really surprising.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Thanks to ThisIzAWESOME, thinkitover, Abc, AnimeKnightmare, Emilie, stormpix, Viofan238, flyneza, Lovesbugsalot and Story Critic Kat for reviewing.**

 **Forgot to mention that I'll be updating this every Monday. Now, enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 1**

Poland smirked as he watched the planes fly overhead. They were making their way towards Berlin. Some of them were making their way to other cities, but the priority was the capital.

It was fortunate that Germany was in his capital, along with Prussia. That meant two birds could be hit with one stone.

He made his way to Berlin as well, feeling the anticipation of the sweet victory and the satisfaction of revenge. Call this justice.

…

Germany sighed, looking up at his pacing brother. Both Germans couldn't deny that there was something seriously wrong. They had been feeling tense for a day or so, and they couldn't explain the feeling.

They had checked in with their boss, and there was no sign of political problems. There was also nothing going on with the German people, and they had even checked on the state of affairs with their neighbours, and for an extra measure they checked on the rest of Europe as well.

There was nothing to indicate that there was something wrong.

"I'll go check on Italy," Germany said.

The Italian had arrived the previous day and had stayed the night. If Germany really thought about it, the feeling of unease had arrived with Italy. But there was no reason to suspect the Italian of anything.

Sure enough, Italy was still fast asleep, sprawled out on his back. Germany briefly considered waking the Italian and yelling at him because of his laziness, but he knew that he couldn't do that without alerting the Italian about his unease.

Then again, Italy never _could_ read the atmosphere.

Germany shook his head. It would of course be his luck that Italy would pick up on this, and then he'd have a panicking Italian on his hands. He was already uneasy enough, and didn't want to add to his stress.

So he left the Italian and went back to his brother.

Prussia briefly looked up before he resumed his pacing.

"I don't like this, West," Prussia said. "Something bad is going to happen. I can feel it."

The fact that Prussia didn't use the word 'awesome' or any of its variants was enough to tell the German that his brother was completely serious about this. That was of course all the more reason to be worried.

Germany swallowed and he noticed that there was a lump in his throat. He was also sweating nervously, and his hands were trembling slightly.

"Whatever's happening," Germany said, "I can't help but feel that it was a long time coming."

Before Prussia could say anything Germany cried out in both shock and pain. He clutched his chest, and Prussia was at his side in an instant.

"West, what's wrong?" Prussia asked.

Germany didn't respond, just listened. Prussia seemed to realise it and tried to listen as well. Prussia gasped when he realised what was going on.

Berlin was being bombed.

"Come on," Prussia said. "Let's go to my room. The basement should be safer."

Germany didn't protest as Prussia guided him towards the basement. He was in too much pain from his capital being bombed, without a single word of warning. When this was finished, he swore to find out who had done this and _why_.

"Scheisse," Prussia swore.

Germany looked up to see Prussia struggling with the door of the basement. He swallowed nervously before he tried the door himself.

Locked.

"What the hell is going on?" Prussia asked.

"Go check on Italy," Germany instructed.

Prussia gave him an incredulous look before he went to do as he was told. Germany tried to force the door open, trying hard to ignore the pain in his chest.

He heard the cocking of a gun and froze. He turned towards the direction, only to see…

"Poland?" Germany asked incredulously.

Poland had an easy smirk on his face, pointing his gun towards the German. For once, Poland's smirk wasn't cocky, but confident. As though he _knew_ that there was no way Germany would be able to fight him off.

"That's me," Poland said. "You didn't see this coming, did you?"

"What is the meaning of this?" Germany asked.

"You see, I wanted to keep the tradition of having a World War start with a Germanic nation," Poland said. "It was either you or Austria. Congratulations, you won."

"What are you talking about? You can't _possibly_ be planning another World War. Don't let your bosses do that to you."

Poland chuckled, and Germany felt goosebumps on his arms. The chuckle sounded… cold. Not even Russia would be able to achieve that level of coldness.

"My 'boss' has nothing to do with this," Poland said. "You see, I haven't listened to a human in centuries. This is all me. This is who I really am. Fooled you, didn't I?"

"What are you talking about?" Germany demanded.

"Everything that happened in my country was all my doing. _I_ was the one that gave the humans the instructions. _I_ told my 'bosses' what to do. I've never done something that I didn't want to do. Everything was part of a master plan."

"Then why wait so long?"

"Simple. We watched and learned. Thanks for showing us what _not_ to do in a World War, by the way."

Before Germany could ask what he meant by 'we' and 'us', Prussia returned.

"West, Italy isn't… Poland?!"

Instead of breaking his gaze and pointing the gun towards the Prussian, Poland simply took out another gun and aimed it at Prussia's head, all without looking away from Germany.

"Took you long enough to join us," Poland said. "Now I don't have to explain _everything_ twice."

"Why are you doing this?" Germany asked.

"Because we want power," Poland said, shrugging. "It's as simple as that. But since we're nations and not humans, we had longer to plan this out. Longer to gain allies. Longer to make sure those allies wouldn't betray us. Longer to learn from others' mistakes."

"What the hell?!" Prussia asked. "Where's Italy? What did you do to him?"

Poland just smirked, and Germany could feel the rage grow.

"What did you do to him?!" Germany demanded. "If you hurt him…"

"You're really worried about him, aren't you?" Poland asked, and even though there was a smirk on his face, his voice sounded… cold with a hint of anger and disgust. "What is he to you?"

Germany stilled, trying to explain how he saw the Italian.

"Germany?"

His eyes widened when he heard the familiar Italian voice, and he turned to see Italy standing to the side. Prussia also looked surprised to see the Italian.

"Italien, get away," Germany said. "Poland's gone insane."

"No he hasn't," Italy said. "He's always been like this. And he isn't insane."

Germany looked confused, and Italy opened his eyes.

If Germany thought that Poland's voice was cold, then Italy's eyes were _freezing_. And then Poland's use of the pronouns 'us' and 'we' made sense.

"You two were in this together," Germany said.

"Si," Italy said, walking over towards Poland. "People tend to forget that I'm a grandson of Rome, the greatest of the ancients. To them, I'm nothing but weak, cowardly, stupid little Italy."

Italy walked up behind Poland and draped his arms around his neck. Poland didn't budge from his stance while holding the weapons towards the Germans.

"So tell me," Italy said. "I'm curious. What am I to you?"

Germany didn't answer, though he noticed that Poland seemed to look a little annoyed. Italy followed his gaze and chuckled.

"Aw, are you jealous?" Italy asked. "Mio amore, you know that it was all part of the plan."

Italy cupped Poland's cheek and guided him to look at him. Their lips made contact, and the two made sure to look Germany straight in the eye.

Poland broke the kiss and looked straight at Germany again.

"I know that it was part of the plan," Poland said. "But do you have _any_ idea how much it annoyed me that you would greet him with hugs and kisses? To hear that you even slept in the same _bed_?"

"Now you know how I felt with you and Lithuania," Italy said, pecking the Pole on the cheek.

"What are you going to do now?" Germany asked.

"Well, you're going to take part in a little process called 'partitioning'," Poland said. "Sound familiar?"

"Like hell would we allow you to do that," Prussia spat. "Not while we're still able to fight."

Poland rolled his eyes, and he adjusted his aim faster than Germany thought possible. There was a single bang, followed by two cries of pain.

Somehow, Poland had managed to shoot both Germans in the side, successfully missing anything vital. But it had achieved the purpose of incapacitating the two.

For the moment, at least.

Germany placed his hands on the wound in order to staunch the bleeding and glared at the two.

"So, do you think the two of you are able to fight?" Poland asked. "Think carefully. Because next time, I'm aiming for something vital. You try to determine what kind of vital that is."

"So, you're intending to divide my land between the two of you?" Germany spat. "You're foolish if you think you can just do that."

"Your land isn't going to be divided between the two of _us_ ," Italy said. "Sure, Feliks will be taking some, but there are two of our allies that want to have some of your land as well."

"You mentioned something about allies before," Germany said. "Who are they?"

"Think carefully," Italy said. "Which other nation in Europe has Italian as an official language?"

Germany's first thought was Romano, of course, but something about the way Italy phrased the question made him think that it wasn't him. There was a chance that he _was_ involved, but he wasn't applicable to this situation.

He thought harder, and he realised he heard a conversation in Italian between Italy and…

"Please," Germany groaned. "Don't tell me it's Switzerland."

"Bravo," Italy said.

"What?" Prussia said. "But… he's neutral."

"But I was on _their_ side longer."

The two Germans froze when they heard the voice, and turned to see that two other nations had arrived. Liechtenstein and Switzerland, and both of them were staring at them coldly. Even Liechtenstein looked as though she could kill them in an instant without flinching. Both of them had guns in their hands.

"So this was all part of your little plan?" Prussia said, looking towards Switzerland. "Who else? France? Spain?"

"Hell no," Italy said. "They were adopted by Rome, and while I might have called them 'fratello', they mean nothing to us. The only thing they were useful for is giving us access to the Americas."

"Who do you have there?" Germany demanded.

"That's our little secret," Italy said. "We don't have the idiota, though. He would have let things slip the moment he could. Then there's the fact that he has this _ridiculous_ hero-complex. And we didn't want to upset one of our most valuable allies by letting _him_ join us."

"So it's someone that doesn't like America?" Prussia asked. "I'm going to take a guess and say that it's Mexico."

"We're working on that," Poland said. "Mexico didn't like Romano, so he couldn't recruit her."

"It wasn't _Romano_ that she didn't like," Italy said. "It was more Spain's affection towards him. I'm sure if we have someone else go to talk to her, she'll be willing to listen."

"Did you tell him?" Switzerland asked.

"Si. He's on his way to Mexico as we speak."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Germany asked.

"It's nothing for you to worry about," Poland said. "For now, you're going to come with us, and you'll be our little prisoners."

"Like hell!" Prussia yelled.

"I'd shut up if I were you," Poland said. "Remember that you're not a nation anymore. One bullet to your head, and you'll drop dead. The only reason I haven't shot you yet is because you're going to help us get to France, Austria and Hungary. But if either you or Germany give us grief, we won't hesitate to bury a bullet in your brain."

Germany's eyes widened at those words. That explained why Poland kept the gun aimed towards Prussia's head. Germany could be kept alive, at least until they've succeeded in their plans and stripped him from his lands.

"You're bluffing," Prussia said. "I'm too awesome to be killed like that."

Germany could hear the doubt in the Prussian's voice, and apparently so could the others.

"Funny," Poland said. "Didn't Holstein say something similar to that?"

Germany's eyes widened, and he looked over towards Prussia, who seemed to have frozen in fear.

"Was?" he whispered.

"You must have noticed that he disappeared before the rest of your brothers," Italy said. "We had to check on the mortality of an ex-nation. We also tested other nations' mortalities. We know how to kill nations, even without their lands being completely gone. Right now, your survival depends on how obedient you are. And whether or not your people will pose a problem."

"You're bluffing," Germany whispered.

"No, we're serious," Switzerland said. "We can kill you in an instant, and you won't be able to come back. But we'd rather not. Messy business, you see."

Germany looked between the four nations, and he realised that they were quite serious. They had planned this for a long time, and now that they had revealed their plans, they wouldn't back down. And he knew that they wouldn't hesitate in killing either him or Prussia, and their cooperation determined whether or not they lived or died.

Germany looked over towards Prussia, and he saw the fear in those red eyes. He knew that Prussia had been worried about his mortality for a while, and with enemies that knew all about it, things did not look good for him.

Germany closed his eyes before he relaxed his posture. He still pressed against the bleeding wound, though, but he made sure that his posture told them that he wouldn't put up a fight.

"Alright," Germany said. "As long as you don't harm my bruder, I have no reason to fight you."

"Was?" Prussia demanded.

"East, you can't deny that they have the upper hand here," Germany said. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"Smart choice," Poland said. "Don't worry. For being cooperative, we'll make your partitions as painless as possible."

"Is that really necessary?" Germany asked.

"Si," Italy said. "We're not going to explain ourselves now, but everything would make sense in the end."

"I just want to know something," Germany said. "Was _everything_ a lie?"

Italy looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Si," Italy said. "Everything was a lie."

"Even your love of pasta?"

"…Alright, I admit that I might have _exaggerated_ that one. _That_ wasn't a complete lie."

"So, your incompetence, your cowardice… It was _all_ a lie?"

"Oh for crying out loud," Switzerland said. "Yes. _Everything_ was a lie. Everything you know about us is a lie. We've been planning this for centuries. Everything that has ever happened in our countries was carefully planned."

"Except for natural disasters," Liechtenstein admitted.

"Right, except for that. Well, sometimes…"

"Let's get a move on already," Poland said. "We still need to alert Vatican that he will be getting guests."

"Wait," Prussia said, " _he's_ involved?"

"Of course," Italy said. "He's a descendant of Rome too, after all."

Switzerland approached Prussia and forced his arms behind his back, before cuffing them. Switzerland then moved towards Germany, who reluctantly put his arms behind his back.

"What about these wounds?" Germany asked.

"You won't bleed out," Switzerland said. "The bullets are designed to staunch the bleeding after a while. These were designed to wound, not kill."

"How did you…?"

"Interesting fact, Poland is _very_ good with chemistry. And he didn't share anything he discovered with anyone outside our group."

Germany looked over towards where Poland and Italy had been, only to find them both gone.

"Come on," Switzerland said. "The sooner we get you to Vatican, the better."

"What makes you think that you will be able to get away with this?" Germany asked. "You know how the other World Wars turned out."

"Yes. But we did something that you didn't. Research. We know everything about every nation. We know their tactics. We know the types of weapons they use. And we know their weaknesses."

"I can't wait until you have to take on Russia or America."

"You see, we've made arrangements for both of them. We have three nations on our side that Russia is afraid of. And we also have someone that on multiple occasions have made America cry. We know _who_ each nation considers their weakness, and _why_. For some, it's fear. For others…"

He looked over towards Liechtenstein and Prussia, and Germany followed his gaze.

"It's compassion."

…

San Marino hung up the phone, smirking.

Veneziano had just informed him that Germany was now part of their territory, and many of the others had called to ask whether or not Judgement Day had finally arrived.

Announcing it with a _bang_ was certainly one way to go about it. Most nations in the world would be confused, but some knew exactly what was going on.

San Marino picked up the phone once again. He would need to relay the news to Vatican that the two prisoners would be arriving shortly.

He was the messenger, and he was the one that knew what every other nation in the world was up to.

He idly stroked the button he wore on his chest. It was gold and depicted a wolf and eagle back-to-back. This was their symbol.

This was the mark of the new world order.

…

Romano snapped the phone shut, finishing his packing. He had seen on the news that Germany had been bombed by unknown attackers. What the humans had been able to figure out was that it wasn't the work of terrorists, but an army.

He knew that the rest of the world would be worried, and he had in fact received a call from Spain, the other inviting him over 'for his own safety'.

He knew his orders, and smirked. It wasn't _his_ safety the Spaniard had to worry about.

 **Also, if there are a few historical inaccuracies, think of it not as history, but as memories. And humans have a tendency to remember things the way they want to remember them, not always how they happened. The same can be applied to nations regarding some events. I'm just warning because it'll be coming.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Thanks to Skye Phoenix Dove, AnimeKnightmare, Cardfighter by Maple, Nomadic Defender, stormpix, Ariaprincess, LunaLovegood'sBestFriend, AphHetaliaLover, pastaaddict and Story Critic Kat for reviewing**

 **I'm glad to see that you guys are enjoying this. I've never had such a positive response on a prologue or first chapter before. But there are more surprises coming.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 2**

Canada sighed happily, relaxing into the chair of his private plane.

When his phone rang at about two o'clock in the morning, he was not pleased, and had let his mask slip as he answered. Fortunately it was San Marino, so a mask wasn't required.

The Italian nation had told him that it was time for him to start his negotiations with Mexico. She was important in their plan to take care of America, and if he couldn't get her to join willingly, then he would have to convince her through force. Canada rather liked that idea. He was tired of pretending to be passive-aggressive.

He kept an eye on the news, and when he saw something titled 'mysterious air bombings in Germany', he knew that it was _finally_ Judgement Day.

It wouldn't be long until he no longer had to speak in that _stupid_ whispery voice, and that he could tell the world _exactly_ what he thought of them. Soon shy, polite and quiet little Canada would be no more.

He closed the laptop and stretched on the chair. He still had a few hours before he reached Mexico, and he could use that time to catch up on his sleep.

And then he could _finally_ get to work.

…

The Nordics were watching the news in horror. Denmark was especially transfixed, knowing that his neighbour was the one that was being attacked.

"We _have_ to get to Germany," Denmark said.

"It's not safe," Norway said. "Not while the bombings are going on. And even when it's over, we don't know when _another_ attack will come. We don't even know who's doing this."

Denmark glared at the screen, gritting his teeth in frustration. Finally, he took out his cell phone and dialled a number. He waited for a few seconds, before he angrily removed the phone from next to his ear.

"The landline's dead," Denmark explained, dialling another number.

He waited for another minute, before removing the phone again and dialling again. He looked extremely nervous, and when he removed the phone again, he almost looked afraid.

"Both Prussia and Germany's phones immediately went to voicemail," he said.

"I'm sure they're alright," Finland tried to reassure. "I mean, you know how tough those two are."

"Finland's right," Sweden said. "I'm sure they're alright."

Denmark sighed, staring at the screen forlornly.

They heard Ladonia and Sealand arguing about something as they came closer, and once the two micronations entered the room they stopped, turning to regard the nations.

"What's wrong?" Sealand asked.

"Someone's attacking Germany," Iceland said. "Does whoever's doing this realise that it could be seen as a declaration of war?"

"I think so," Norway said. "This isn't the work of terrorists. It's too big. _Too_ organised."

"But it's also completely random," Denmark said.

The two micronations said nothing as they watched the screen, odd looks in their eyes.

"Can we go to Seborga's place?" Sealand asked eventually, tearing his gaze away from the TV to look at Finland.

Finland nodded his head, a small smile on his face.

"Will you two be fine going on your own?" Finland asked.

"Of course," Sealand said. "You know how tough we are."

Finland chuckled, before he stood from his seat.

"I'll call Italy to tell him that you're on your way then," he said, walking with the two towards the front door.

When they were out of earshot of the others Finland's smile fell, and he turned to look at the two micronations, who both looked just as serious.

"Do you think Judgement Day has arrived?" Ladonia asked.

"I just need to check in with San Marino," Finland said. "But I think that it's a definite 'yes'."

"We'll be in Seborga if you need us," Sealand said. "Be sure to tell that to San Marino as well."

"Of course," Finland said. "Now, run along. Go have fun with your friends."

"It's finally here," Ladonia whispered as the two micronations walked out the door.

Sometimes Finland envied the micros' ability to go to-and-fro between different nations in an instant. It would make traveling so much easier for them all.

Finland took out his cell phone and dialled a familiar number. As soon as the person answered, he spoke.

"It's Finland," he said. "Is Judgement Day a go?"

"Si," San Marino said. "Veneziano already let me know that Germany and Prussia had been neutralized. Stand by for any instructions."

"Understood," Finland said. "Sealand and Ladonia are on their way to Seborga, where they will wait for any instructions."

"I see. Do you have any idea how the rest of the world would be taking this news?"

"The other Nordics are in shock. Denmark especially, considering his neighbour had been attacked and all. They have no idea who is doing this."

"Good. The element of surprise is still on our side. I will call once I have orders for you."

"Understood."

Finland hung up and he turned back to look in the other Nordics' direction, a cold look in his eye. Soon his mask could be removed, and no longer would he be nice, caring little Finland, but the Finland that made Russia terrified during the Second World War.

The same Finland that he would be for the Third World War as well.

…

Germany and Prussia were led by Liechtenstein and Switzerland into the back of a black car. Germany still winced occasionally from all of the bombs, and Prussia remained quiet, fuming about their surrender, but unable to deny that under the circumstances, Germany made the right choice.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein spoke outside for a moment, before Switzerland climbed into the driver's seat and Liechtenstein went back inside the house.

"Where are you taking us?" Prussia demanded as Switzerland started the car.

"Vatican City," Switzerland replied. "No one will go looking for you _there_."

"I have to say, I'm impressed," Germany said. "Everything you've done, it shows a lot of planning. Who is responsible for that?"

"Poland and Italy are the masterminds," Switzerland said. "The rest of us don't care, as long as we get what we want."

"And how much are they paying you?"

"Not a cent. Like I said, I was an ally of theirs before I declared neutrality. We needed someone to see every war from an outside perspective, and I volunteered for that. The fact that the previous World Wars happened literally around me was a bonus, and when you bought your weapons from me, you only made my job easier."

"So, you worked intelligence for them," Prussia said. "And what about that part where you used to be Vatican's mercenary?"

"All part of the plan. And I wasn't so much a mercenary as his bodyguard. He needed to get on his feet, and I helped him out."

"And what about Liechtenstein?" Prussia asked. "How does _she_ fit in all this?"

"Remember when I took her in during the Depression? Helped her recover? Sure, she was thankful to me, but more than that, she felt vengeful to the rest of the world for allowing her to be in that state. When I told Italy about her, he immediately asked that I get her on board. She was more than willing, to be honest."

"So she wants revenge," Germany said. "And what do _you_ want?"

"To never again have to rely on other nations for my own survival," Switzerland said. " _Your_ land will make a good means to accomplish that. I'll make sure to have a few coastal cities of my own."

"I can't believe you're taking part in these partitions," Germany said. "You must _really_ want me out of the way."

"We've been planning this before you were even born," Switzerland said. "Believe it or not, it's not all about you. We just chose to start with you, that's all. And don't worry. You won't be the only nation that's partitioned. France will come soon enough, and let's not forget America or Russia."

"If you think you can do that, you're wrong," Prussia said.

"We have three nations that Russia is afraid of on our side, two of which could easily defeat him in winter, one that has already done so. Not to mention, we've also got the element of surprise."

"How do you figure that?" Germany asked. "The others will hear about this soon enough, and they'll know it's you."

"No they won't," Switzerland said. "Since they don't know where the planes are coming from. Poland had them fly above the cloudbanks before circling around. The eastern attacks look like they're coming from the west, west from east, south from north and north from south. If anyone tried to look, they'll think that it's coming from the very heart of Germany."

The two brothers gaped at the Swiss for a moment, before they realised that his words were true. It would be hard to determine where the attacks came from.

"You're all a bunch of arschlöcher," Prussia said. "Do you know that?"

"Maybe, but we don't care," Switzerland said. "We've been waiting too long for this day. Oh, and if you think you'll be able to appeal to our merciful sides, don't bother. I don't think any of us even _have_ a merciful side anymore."

"Who are the others?" Prussia asked. "I want to know who to add to my list of arschlöcher."

"I think you'll find out soon enough," Switzerland said.

"How do you plan to get us into Vatican, anyway?" Germany asked. "You still need to cross the borders, and I'm not sure if the humans would just let you through with two people tied up in the back of your car."

"Oh, they will. Every single one of our people knows what we look like, and what we are doing. One mind controlling the masses, so to speak. They've been ready for this war almost as long as we have. And the only borders we'll be crossing are mine and Italy's. So if you think the humans are going to save you, guess again."

"You really _have_ thought of anything, haven't you?"

"Like I said. We've been waiting and planning for a _long_ time."

"One thing I still don't get," Prussia said. "How did Italy and Poland manage to convince the world that they were idiots, if they're so smart?"

"It's _because_ they're so smart that they managed to act the fool. Oh, and if you're wondering, the two met in the early 1500s. Italy had planned for the Italian Wars to start, and then an Italian duchess married a Polish king. The two met, and they made this little plan. They've been gathering allies ever since."

"And you went along with it?"

"Of course. At first Italy employed me as a bodyguard for Vatican, then he realised that I would be useful to them, so he asked me to join them."

"And you have no regrets?" Germany asked.

"Nope. Not at all."

"You're probably brainwashed to believe in their promises," Prussia said. "You're going to fail big time."

"We'll see about that. Just keep in mind that you're the ones being transported to another country, after the capital of your own was bombed without any warning. And also, the planes that we used were kept top secret until now. Untraceable to us."

"And what will you do when the rest of the world finds out about your little plan?" Germany asked.

"When the rest of the world finds out, World War Three will become official, and we'd probably already own half of the world."

"I highly doubt you'd be able to move that fast without attracting attention," Prussia scoffed.

"We could, if we manage to gain a lot of territory through a regional meeting. Like, say, the African Union's meeting which is in two days' time."

"What?" Germany asked. "What makes you think that the Africans are just going to allow you to take them?"

"We already have five Africans on our side, and one of them is a leader in the Union. If we can get the other two on board, the rest will follow without much fuss. The Africans know more about survival of the fittest than anyone else. They'll do whatever it takes to survive. You should know that. Didn't you have your own African colony?"

"They still won't cooperate."

"We'll see about that."

…

Egypt was packing his bags in preparation for the African Union meeting in two days' time. His TV was blaring in the background, repeating the news of Germany's fate.

He placed a stack of papers into his briefcase. Each of these papers was enchanted for the sole purpose of gaining new territory. Territory that had a lot of promise.

He had received his call from San Marino as soon as the news had reached him about Germany. He and the other four would attempt a peaceful takeover of the African continent. And if that didn't work, they had bombers waiting in each of the African countries. It would be _easy_ to attack one of them on a whim.

And if anyone tried to fight them off, well…

They had planned this a long time. They had an underground military, a different rule about how economy worked and a secret supply of technology that would make Japan seem outdated.

An advantage of keeping this secret for so long was that they had far more strength than everyone thought. Sustaining a double economy, handling two militaries, and of course having similar allies tended to do that to you.

If any of the others tried to resist and actually fight them off, they would show just how strong they _truly_ were.

But they would need to focus on Nigeria and South Africa first. Ethiopia was already one of them, so all that was left was to get the other two leaders.

South Africa should be pretty easy, considering she had two landlocked nations depending on her. Nations that were physically still children. By threatening the two of them, South Africa would be more compliant. They could also get Mozambique through Swaziland.

And if Zimbabwe was smart, he would surrender fast. He was physically weak, what with a horrible economy and a dictator for a boss. He wouldn't be too hard to convince.

Islands such as Seychelles and Mauritius would also be easy to convince, since they knew that they didn't stand a chance when threatened by an attack.

There were other Africans that would agree for the sake of survival, but there would most likely be those that would be too stubborn to see reason. And then there was Morocco, the only African that _wasn't_ part of the Union.

They would need to work on her afterwards.

He turned his attention to the outside. There were fires burning, and he smirked. The mosques were being burned. He had waited so long for this day. The day when the Arabic influence in his land was forced out, and he could return the land to his mother's glory.

He would need to pass on the message to other Middle Eastern nations. In fact, now that he thought about it, he could also get Israel to join them, as a form of camaraderie.

But that would have to wait, since he had never gotten a chance to get to Israel, and he didn't receive any orders to do so. But he believed that Israel could be a pretty valuable ally, especially considering his history.

And if they managed to get South Africa to join them, then Israel might be more inclined to join as well. The two nations knew each other's nuclear secrets, and they _did_ have a special relationship until a few years ago. In fact, Egypt was willing to bet that the two of them had been _very_ close.

But that might make things difficult. There was a possibility that South Africa was currently in a relationship with Brazil, he wasn't sure. The two were pretty close, and with South Africa being teasing towards him and Brazil being naturally flirtatious, it was hard to tell. He would actually need to ask someone about that, preferably India.

But it didn't matter. Besides, taking care of Brazil was the job of their South American allies. They should be doing their job soon enough anyway.

Speaking of which, he glanced towards the clock. The meeting would be held in Addis Ababa, and while Ethiopia wasn't too far away, they would need to continue their planning. They would need to discuss how they would go about getting the other nations to sign the papers.

He had received them from Italy after the last world meeting, and he knew then and there that Judgement Day was approaching. And when he received the call from San Marino and saw the news, he knew that he was right in his assumption.

He stared out the window for a moment, simply enjoying the sight of the new movement taking place. Egypt would return to the glory days of old.

And while the mosques burned, he felt _nothing_. He never truly considered them a part of him, and his lack of sensation at them being burned was evidence of such.

…

Canada finally arrived in Mexico after a few hours of flying. It was still early morning, and he hoped that she wasn't still asleep. He was just glad that she was more patient with him than she was with America.

He would need to work with her dislike for America in order to get her to join them. He would also use her resentment of Spain to his benefit.

He rented a car at the airport and drove towards her house. He looked around and sighed. Sometimes he wished that his own country could be this warm sometimes.

But when they took care of America, he would have a lot of new territory to choose from. Some of the warmer states, for example.

Oh, but he would need to leave some for Molossia. The micronation wanted a coastal territory, and after all of his hard work as a spy for them, he deserved it.

After a few minutes he arrived at Mexico's house, and he sighed in frustration. He would need to use his whispery voice, at least at first. But then, he could show his true self, and he hoped that Mexico wouldn't be resistant to the idea.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks to Captain Brittany, AnimeKnightmare, stormpix, Lovescugsalot, thinkitover, pastaaddict and Nomadic Defender for reviewing.**

 **This chapter contains a character you probably wouldn't have expected.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 3**

Canada waited for a while after knocking on the door of Mexico's home. He hoped that the other wouldn't be too mad at him. It could make his job more difficult than it already was.

Eventually the door opened to reveal Mexico standing there in sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. Her hair was a mess, and she was squinting at him.

Okay, so either she just woke up a while ago _or_ he had just woken her.

"What do you want, Canada?" she demanded.

Her voice didn't have as much bite as it would usually have had if it was America standing in front of her door, but her words still had some bite. Canada inwardly sighed in annoyance, already seeing an obstacle.

"Bonjour, Mexique," he said. "I'm sorry I bothered you. But I kind of have this super important business to discuss with you. It's on my boss's orders, so sorry."

She scrutinised him for a moment.

"It's too early for this," she said. "So cut the polite act and tell me what you're _really_ doing here."

Canada was surprised, and his facial expression must have said as much, because the Mexican sighed.

"You forget that I knew you since we were little, before our colony days," Mexico said. "I'm not an idiot like America that forgets anything that isn't about him. I know that you're actually pretty loud, with a violent streak that would make the Aztecs proud. So cut the crap and tell me what you're _really_ doing here."

Canada ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes. When he opened them, there was no longer a hint of his quiet and polite self.

"Alright," he said in a louder voice. "I _am_ here on business from my bosses, just not the kind you're familiar with. We want you on our side."

"I see. And why should I agree to this?"

"Because we offer you your pick of America's territories. And all we want is your help in bringing about his downfall."

She looked at him with an emotionless expression before opening the door wider.

"Come on in then," she said. "Make yourself comfortable while I get changed. I want to hear more about this."

Canada smiled and nodded, entering and going towards her living room. He watched as she disappeared up the stairs and sighed. He seriously hoped that she wouldn't call America on him. He wouldn't want to attack her, after all.

She eventually returned and he smiled, before he saw that someone else was following her. It was a girl with blond hair in pigtails and blue eyes that reminded him of America.

"If you're _serious_ about wanting to cause America's downfall," the girl said, "I want to listen to it."

"Canada, meet the Confederate States of America," Mexico explained. "She was born during the American Civil War, and after the war she came to live with me. We've been waiting to get back at America for years, but we've never found the right time. So if you've got a plan and you're serious about it, be my guest."

"It's nice to meet you, Confederacy," Canada said, smiling. "I'm guessing from the fact that I didn't know about you before that America tried to keep you buried."

"You're darn right," Confederacy said. "That asshole tried to pretend that I never existed, but I'll show him. And anyone that wants to take down the yank is a friend of mine."

Canada nodded, before turning to Mexico.

"I'm assuming you haven't watched the news yet, non?" he said.

"I just woke up," she sighed. "What's so important, anyway?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

She arched an eyebrow, but turned to turn the TV on. Instantly the news of the bombings in Germany came on, and she turned to regard him.

"Did you do this?" she asked.

"My bosses, Italy and Poland," he said.

"Wait, _those_ two?"

"You know how I've been pretending to be quiet. You said so. Every one of my allies pretended to be something they're not as well. I'm sure you're the most familiar with Romano, as well as Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru."

She blinked towards him, before turning to the TV again.

"How long have you been planning this?" she asked.

"Um, I think I joined in the 16 or 1700s," Canada said. "The Europeans have been planning this even longer."

"I see. And your ultimate goal?"

"Control over the earth."

"And you want _me_ to take part in it."

"Yep. And the only thing the two of us need to do is get rid of America."

"And if it's over? Then what?"

"We wait to see if there are any other orders from Italy or Poland. If not, then we can happily divide America's land between the four of us."

"Four?" Confederacy interjected.

"You two, myself, and Molossia."

"Oh, that micronation," Mexico said. "You know, I always thought that there was something strange about him. So, he's part of your group as well. And who are the other nations, if I might ask?"

Canada told her, and Mexico stared at him for a brief moment.

"Wow," she said. " _That_ is impressive, I'll give you that. And you've got _Switzerland_ on board. Impressive. And they've all been pretending to be someone they're not?"

"Exactly. You should see how calm and calculating Romano could _really_ be," Canada said.

"Tell me, you're going to take care of Spain too, right?"

"Of course."

"Good. I want a piece of that as well. And if we don't have to do anything else," here, she looked towards Confederacy, who nodded her head, "then it would seem the two of us are part of your little club."

Canada smiled, and he was pleased that he didn't have to work as hard as he thought he would.

Now, he just needed to report in to San Marino, and they'd wait for the perfect time to strike.

…

"Not a bad first day, is it, mio amore?" Italy asked.

The two had returned to Poland's house, where they brought out a bottle of wine in celebration.

"Not bad at all," Poland said. "In two days, we should have the majority of the African continent under our boots, and all the treasures they hold."

"They should be _easy_ to convince," Italy said. "Europe really made a mess of things. The Africans are scarred. They're not as strong as they could be. But with _our_ help…"

"They can become the jewels of our empire. The example for the whole world. An example of what happens when you're on our side."

"And Germany as an example of what happens when you're against us. America, Russia and England will follow that example as well. And so would France."

The two leaned closer for a kiss, but were interrupted by Italy's phone ringing.

They pulled apart, Italy huffing in annoyance, before he saw exactly who was calling him.

"What is it, Carlino?" Italy asked.

Poland waited until Italy finished his conversation with San Marino. But judging by the way Italy was grinning, it was good news.

"Grazie," Italy said, hanging up. He turned to Poland. "Canada's end went better than expected."

"So, he managed to get Mexico on board?" Poland asked.

"Not just Mexico. Apparently, she's been harbouring an ex-nation. One that wanted to see America's downfall as well. The Confederate States of America."

Poland chuckled.

"I've done some research on the Civil War," he said. "And I think Confederacy would make an _excellent_ ally."

"I think we need to bring out the champagne. This is truly an excellent first day."

…

Romano had just stopped his car in Spain's driveway when his phone rang. He sighed, taking it out. He briefly wondered if he should apply his mask, before he saw who was calling him.

"What is it, Carlino?" he asked.

"Where are you now?" San Marino asked.

"I'm in Spain. The idiota wanted me to go to him. To 'protect' me."

"I'm assuming you're going to wait a while before you take Spain."

"Si."

"Good. You know about our South Americans that want to see Spain cower at their feet?"

"Si. That's what got them in on it. Is something wrong on their end?"

"No. Mexico just wants a part of that as well."

Romano smirked.

"It really _is_ a shame that I couldn't manage to get her to listen to me," Romano said. "I guess me acting like a brat was a _bit_ too good of an act. Okay, so I'm going to be in Spain's presence soon enough. Don't call me unless you _have_ to. A text will suffice."

"Si. Ciao fratello."

"Ciao," Romano said, a smirk on his face.

He took a moment to transform the smirk into a scowl, and he walked up to Spain's front door.

He would need to play his part well, at least until the South Americans could make their move.

…

South Korea was watching the news. Normally, he wouldn't bother, but when Japan had called to ask him if North Korea was up to something, he had a feeling that he should.

Of course, he told him that there was nothing going on in North Korea. He would have noticed.

But seeing the mysterious bombings… He could understand why Japan would think that. After all, that was part of the plan.

Still…

He took out his phone, and dialled a number without taking his eyes off the screen. It only rang once before it was answered.

"Yong Soo, what is it?" came the voice of North Korea.

South Korea smirked.

"It's Judgement Day," he said.

There was silence for a moment, before he heard a chuckle.

"Then I guess I have to play the part of the villain. I'll see if there are any orders for me."

"I'll be doing the same. All the years of waiting is _finally_ coming to an end."

…

San Marino grinned. He was getting calls from everyone in their circle, some of them waiting for orders, and others reporting in on what they were doing.

They needed to wait until the entire world knew what was going on. They needed to gauge the reactions of the other nations before making their next move. If any of them were under suspicion, then they would need to do something to divert that attention.

The only other thing that would be happening, for the moment, was the meeting of the African Union. They _needed_ the continent, or at least the majority, on board. The Africans had a lot of land, but thanks to negligence from European nations, they didn't know what to do with it. Veneziano, of course, knew the potential in the land, and he also knew just how to treat his own African colonies. And even the colonies of others.

San Marino heard a rustling of clothes behind him, and turned to see Vatican standing at the door. He smirked towards his brother, and the other smiled back.

"I take it things are going well?" Vatican asked.

"Si. Our circle knows about Judgement Day. Canada has successfully recruited Mexico. And our Africans will be working on the rest of their continent soon."

Vatican smiled.

"And the prisoners have arrived in my city," Vatican said. "The last place anyone would search for them. But if they _do_ decide to search here…"

"It would already be too late. Germany would no longer exist by that time."

"Which country do _you_ want?"

"I wouldn't mind a piece of Spain. Or perhaps Portugal. What about you?"

"I would like some Middle Eastern territory, if only to shut those fools up. 'Infidels'? They don't know the meaning of the word."

"I think you and Egypt need to negotiate. Actually, he suggested we get Israel to join us."

"I agree with that. I always liked him. I don't really want _him_ to be an enemy of ours."

"But if he _is_?"

"Then it doesn't matter, does it?"

…

Seborga calmly played with the cell phone in his hands, a small smile on his face. The other micronations, with the exception of Molossia, were already at his home, and they were waiting for any orders.

The micronations didn't hide much of their true natures, and they certainly didn't hide how much they wanted to become full-fledged nations. But they were careful to hide what lengths they would go to in order to achieve that goal.

Unlike the true nations that had a toddler stage, the micronations didn't have that. They were never at an age where anyone would want to take them in and teach them right from wrong. All micronations – well, those that weren't born as humans like Nikoniko was – had an almost non-existent moral code. If they were given the tools, then they would happily launch a takeover to gain enough territory to truly be considered a nation.

That is what Seborga had told his brothers a long time ago. When they had found him, they were shocked, but upon hearing the boy's eagerness to become a true nation, they told him of their plan. He was awed by the amount of patience that the two possessed, and he immediately wanted part of that as well. San Marino and Vatican filled him in on how everything worked while Veneziano and Romano stood in the foreground, drawing the other nations' attentions away from the smaller Italians.

He had heard of Sealand and had tried to approach him, but the other was a little more aggressive with trying to be recognised, and his attempts were pathetic. However, he was stubborn, and Seborga knew that he wouldn't be able to convince him to change his approach so easily. But he knew that Sealand would be a good person to have on their side, being a former military fort and all, so he kept watch. His spying was compromised when he fell from that tree in Wy's garden, but luckily the other two were accepting of him after getting over their shock.

Afterwards they had gone in search of more friends, and after Molossia, Hutt River, Kugelmugel and Ladonia joined their group, he had told them about his brothers' plans. They were shocked at first, but then he told them that it was an easier way to become true nations, and that it would be fun to play the world for a bunch of fools. They accepted, of course, the temptation of getting what they wanted appealing to each of them.

Seborga looked over towards Ladonia, who was typing away on his laptop. They each had to act as spies on the other nations, but Ladonia was the one that carried all the information. One of the perks of being located on the internet, he supposed.

The door opened and Molossia stepped in, saying that he had only woken up an hour ago and had just heard the news. Seborga told him that it was no big deal.

Now, they just needed to wait for their orders.

…

France worried his lip as he watched the news. He had already called Prussia to check if he was alright, but there had been no answer. He wondered if his friend was fine, and sincerely hoped that he wasn't injured. Or worse.

He had also tried to call Italy, but he had only managed to get voicemail, and naturally, he worried about whether or not Italy was with Germany when the bombings started. If that was the case, then he was _really_ worried.

But asides from that, what worried him was the fact that it was his _neighbour_ that was attacked. And no one knew which direction the enemy planes came from. What if they thought it was France? Or what if he was next? What if they were at the frontier of another World War?

France tried to call Italy again, and was relieved when he heard him pick up.

"C-ciao?" Italy's small voice said.

"Italie, c'est France. Have you heard about Germany?"

A wail from the other end answered his question.

"Italy, do you know anything about what's happening?"

A whimper.

"N-no," Italy said. "France, who would do this to Ludwig?!"

"I don't know, but I'll find out. I'm going to Germany's house to see what I can learn."

"Ve, alright. Tell me if you find something."

"D'accord. Au revoir, mon ami."

"Ciao."

France hung up the phone and sighed. He might not be too fond of Germany, but he was one of his best friends' brother, and his adoptive brother's best friend. France would extend his brotherly concern to Germany as well, and he would find out who was responsible.

He just hoped that it wouldn't be too late.

…

America groaned, rolling over. It was his day off, and still early in the morning. Whoever was calling him could go jump in a lake.

Eventually the ringing stopped, and America sighed happily, cuddling further into the sheets. Only to groan as the phone rang again. He ignored it, or tried to.

When it rang _again_ , he wrenched himself into a sitting position and grabbed the phone with anger.

"Someone had better be dying for you to interrupt me on my day off," America snarled into the phone.

"Well, there's a possibility of that happening."

America groaned.

"Iggy, you've lectured me enough times about time differences."

"Don't call me 'Iggy'. And it should be bloody nine in the morning where you are."

"I take it that you didn't hear the part about it being my day off. Now, why are you calling?"

"Germany's been attacked."

"What do you mean?"

"As in his capital and several major cities had been bombed by unknown aircraft. This isn't a terrorist attack – the amount of bombs and the aircraft suggested otherwise. This is an army attacking."

"But… who?"

"That's the thing. No one knows who it is. The design of the aircraft isn't familiar, and they were painted in black."

"Maybe it's the Commie?"

"No. Russia was the one that called _me_ out of concern. He doesn't recognise the aircraft either."

"He could be lying!"

"No. And to make things worse, no one can contact Germany or Prussia, and none of their neighbours know what's going on."

"But… I mean, _how_?"

"I don't know. If anyone else is attacked, then we should accept the possibility that we might have another World War on our hands."


	5. Chapter 4

**Thanks to Skye Phoenix Dove, ScandinavianTrash, AnimeKnightmare, Lovesbugsalot, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 4**

Two days had passed after the attack on Germany. The Europeans were suspicious of each other, and they were waiting in anticipation to see if anyone else would be attacked, and to see if whoever attacked Germany would come forward and reveal themselves.

The rest of the world were also hoping to find out who it was, since Germany was an important trading partner to many of them, and the fact that he had gone missing only served to frighten them more. No one knew who was responsible, but many felt that they had a suspicion.

Shortly after the attack on Germany, North Korea came out of isolation, and there were rumours of the two Koreas starting the process of reunification. Now, the world _would_ be feeling relieved, had it not occurred at a very suspicious time.

However, other than the Europeans, no one feared an attack, thinking that they wouldn't be targeted.

Oh, how wrong they were.

…

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Libya and Ethiopia had arrived early, making sure that everything was in place. They needed their plans to go smoothly, and wanted to make sure that they would.

Since Ethiopia was the one hosting, he was also the one that had to organise the agenda and needed to have all the statistics for each of the other members. Those papers were sitting in folders in front of each seat, ready for the nations to peruse them as the meeting progressed. They made sure that the African Union meetings always went well, simply because they wanted to shove their successful meetings in the Europeans' faces. Though sometimes, things didn't go as planned.

But this time they would make sure they would. The contracts were the very first pages in each of the folders. They wouldn't be discussing poverty, or crime, or migration problems. They would be discussing trade and allegiances during World War Three.

Luckily, _no one_ opened the folders before they were instructed to. That would have just caused unwanted questions that they couldn't answer before everyone was there and the doors locked. They needed at least two-thirds of the Union on board, and they had ways of ensuring that.

They looked up when Namibia entered the room. She was always early, and they supposed that it had something to do with her German heritage. Just like how, usually, the former Italian colonies were late.

So Namibia was surprised to see Eritrea, Somalia and Libya being early, but they ignored her. She kept her nose out of other people's business, unless her neighbours were involved, because that _usually_ affected her.

But that was the way for pretty much every nation. Actually, that _was_ how it was for pretty much every _nation_.

The quintet waited as one by one the other African nations arrived. And when they were all finally there the doors closed, but only the five of them knew that Ethiopia's soldiers had locked them.

The five shared a smirk, and Ethiopia stood to address the other nations.

"Thank you all for coming," Ethiopia said. "Please, open to page one."

The others did as told, and they watched with some amusement as the room went from confused to outraged within a few moments as the other nations saw and read the paper in front of them.

"What the hell is this?"

"This had better be some kind of joke!"

"Ethiopia, what are you playing at?"

"Are you finished?" Egypt asked after a while of this, his tone bored.

Everyone quieted down, confused as to what Egypt had to do with the whole thing.

"In front of you are contracts," Eritrea explained. "By signing them, you're agreeing to trade exclusively with certain nations, offer aid when requested, and in general allying yourself with them."

"Really?" Malawi sneered. "Because these look like contracts of subservience to me."

"Well, when you look at it _that_ way…"

"Here's what I think of that," Nigeria said, holding up the paper and ripping it right down the middle.

As soon as the paper was torn Nigeria screamed, startling most of the room. He clutched his midsection, his face twisted in pain. The quintet seemed unbothered by this.

"Did we mention that the papers are enchanted?" Egypt asked. "If you rip one, then one of your organs will suffer the same fate. Setting that paper on fire will result in one of your organs being cooked, and attempting to cause water damage will result in one of your organs liquefying."

Senegal swallowed nervously, putting his lighter back in his pocket. Eritrea stood with an extra contract and walked over towards Nigeria, putting the new contract in front of him. Nigeria kept glaring at the other four.

"Bastards," Nigeria hissed.

"We had a feeling one of you would try that," Ethiopia said. "Which is why we have medical personnel a few rooms from this one. But the only way these doors will be unlocked is if we have a majority bound by the contract. And while it won't _permanently_ kill you, dying from a destroyed organ is a pretty painful experience. Especially if it's something that can't be replaced."

Nigeria glared at them, and everyone could see sweat coating his face. He picked up his pen and signed the paper, before he groaned from the pain.

"Anyone else?" Libya asked.

Some of the nations sitting closest to Nigeria also signed the papers, glancing towards the injured nation with worry.

"No one else?" Egypt asked. "Do you think we should call the bombers?"

"What bombers?" Angola asked.

"Oh, there are bombers located in each of your countries, ready to attack as soon as we give the orders," Somalia replied casually.

"You wouldn't happen to be behind the attack on Germany, would you?" Namibia asked, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"That would be our European allies," Libya said calmly. "Well, some of them at least."

"You said you had bombers in each of our countries," Madagascar said. "How is it we don't sense them?"

"We've been working for _years_ to make our arsenal nation-proof," Egypt said. "By which I mean none of you would be able to sense our soldiers, our air or naval force, or even any explosives planted in your lands."

"But that's impossible!" Zambia exclaimed.

"Then explain how Germany wasn't warned ahead of schedule."

No one could.

"Should we call the bombers or not?" Somalia asked. "I've already got the perfect target in mind."

His eyes trailed to Lesotho, who was swallowing nervously. He was physically the youngest in the room, mostly due to being an enclave within a larger nation. Said larger nation looked furious, her maternal instincts taking hold of her.

"There is _no_ way I'm allowing that!" South Africa shouted. "You'd need to get through _me_ first!"

"I see no problem with that, do you?" Eritrea asked, looking towards his comrades.

"Not at all," Somalia said, taking out a cell phone. "Thank you for volunteering."

"Wait," South Africa said, her eyes wide.

Somalia smirked, putting the phone away. South Africa stared at the paper for a moment before grabbing the pen with a sigh. She signed the paper before glaring at them once again.

This caused a few other nations to sign as well, fear obvious on each of their faces. South Africa's military had an influence in several of their countries and they couldn't afford to have her as an enemy.

And then there was the little subject of South Africa being the only one among them that knew how to make nuclear weapons.

Many nations resigned themselves to their fates, looking between Nigeria and South Africa. Said nations closed their eyes, both feeling guilty about being the reason for others to sign.

Eventually only ten nations remained, and they absolutely refused to pick up their pens. They simply glared at the five nations sitting at the head of the table.

"Will you sign or not?" Egypt asked.

"Non," Côte d'Ivoire said. "We refuse to subject ourselves to the likes of _you_."

"Oh really?"

"It doesn't matter," Libya said. "We already have the majority. You can go."

The ten nations glared, before standing from their seats. They left the room, and three of Ethiopia's soldiers entered. The ten tensed when they were passing the soldiers, but relaxed when they had passed.

"Get him medical attention," Ethiopia ordered the soldiers, waving in Nigeria's general direction.

The nation groaned as he was supported by two of the soldiers and escorted out of the room.

South Africa glared at Egypt, though he looked nonchalant as Somalia went around and collected each of their papers.

"How long have you been planning this?" she hissed.

Egypt looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, Italy approached me in the 1500s…"

" _Italy_?" most of the room exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right. He's one of our two leaders, along with Poland. Fooled you, didn't we? Who would've thought that those two would be evil masterminds? Everyone in our group fooled you all."

"And who else _is_ in your group?" Mozambique asked nervously.

"Turn to page two and you'll find out."

They did so, and most of them stared at the names. There were a few that looked completely horrified. South Africa was one of them, and for good reason.

"Jou bliksim," she muttered.

…

India sneezed, and he had the vague feeling that someone was talking about him. Knowing that it was the African Union meeting, he felt he knew who it might be.

His mission had been to get close to world powers. Nations like England, Russia and China being high on that list. There were also rising powers, like Brazil and South Africa. Of course, Arthur still kept in contact, occasionally coming for a cup of tea, and BRICS allowed him to get close to the other four nations.

Well, South Africa would probably be dealt with at the AU meeting, and the South Americans would get the order to deal with Brazil soon enough. That just left England, Russia and China.

Though England would probably have enough to deal with when Sealand decided to intervene, and they had already gotten the three nations that could take on Russia. As for China… well, India would have fun there, along with the Korea twins.

But their biggest advantage at the moment was the element of surprise. Only Germany, Prussia and the Africans would know about them, and none of them would be able to speak about it.

That was part of the contract.

…

San Marino relayed the message from Eritrea to Veneziano. Things were going smoothly. Veneziano had given him new orders to deliver, and he knew that these orders would bring a smile on certain nations' faces.

He called Argentina, telling her about the orders Italy had given her, Chile, Venezuela and Peru. He heard her chuckle, and knew that she was pleased to hear what their orders were.

It might not have been the orders they were waiting for, but they were still orders that they enjoyed. Their South American allies enjoyed causing pain, in whatever form. They were sadists, and had to hide that part of their nature for nearly three hundred years. The opportunity to allow that sadistic side to come out again would be like an early birthday present for each of them.

San Marino had glimpsed the South Americans' true nature, and he had to admit that Romano made an excellent choice in recruiting them. And with the right motivation, they were a force to be reckoned with.

San Marino briefly wondered if he should check on Vatican before deciding against it. If he needed help, then he would call.

…

Germany and Prussia were chained against the wall in Vatican's basement. They hadn't expected the small nation to possess that much strength, so they were surprised and humiliated when he had easily hauled them off to lock up.

Germany could feel as his country was ripped apart by partitions, and he wondered if the rest of the world had noticed what was happening. He also wondered if anyone cared about what was happening to him. And he had a feeling that no one, other than whoever was part of Italy's group, even knew where he was.

It scared him that they had managed to fool the world for as long as they did. How was that even possible, and how did they have that much patience? They _had_ to have slipped up at some point in the past.

The two brothers tensed when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and they glared at the door when it opened. But they had to blink in surprise when they saw the nation that was standing there.

"Romania?" Prussia asked.

Romania smirked, his red eyes nearly glowing and his canines gleaming in the dull light.

"I bet you didn't think that _I_ would be involved too, did you?" Romania asked.

"I knew I shouldn't be surprised," Germany muttered.

"What the hell?!" Prussia shouted. "I thought you were awesome!"

Romania's smirk widened, and Germany swallowed.

"That whole eccentric, friendly joker personality of yours is fake too, isn't it?" Germany asked.

"Da," Romania said. "Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to get people off course? My appearance gives it all away. Because I look like a vampire, I _must_ be one, am I right?"

"You aren't, are you?" Prussia asked.

"Well, I might have indulged in acts that could be considered vampiric, like drinking blood. Want to know a secret? Prince Vladimir the Third, also known as Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler, Dracula… He was just a figurehead. Made everyone believe that everything 'he' did was a human's doing. The truth was, _I_ did all of those things. And he was a good sport, taking the credit for what I did."

The two Germans looked horrified at the revelation, and Romania chuckled darkly. Germany swallowed nervously, a question burning on his tongue.

"Has anyone else revealed their true natures before?" Germany asked.

"You're wondering if our masks ever slipped," Romania said. "Sure. Think back to Vimy Ridge. I've _never_ seen him that mad before."

Germany's eyes widened, and he could feel an icy coil twist in his stomach.

"Canada," he whispered.

Romania nodded.

"He was quite vicious, wasn't he?" Romania asked. "The mask slipped, but only a little. When he's fighting for real, he'll be _much_ worse."

That thought didn't appeal to Germany, and he wasn't sure if Romania was pulling their legs or if he was serious. He was hoping for the first one.

"As much as I would like to continue our chat," Romania said, "I have something else to do. I'll see you later then. Maybe."

Romania chuckled darkly and turned to leave.

"Wait," Prussia said, and Romania paused. "What about Moldova? Is he involved too?"

Romania turned to face them, and there was a look of annoyance on his face, though the red eyes made the expression look more terrifying.

"No, he isn't involved, and he doesn't know the true me either," Romania said. "But I'm not going to harm him, unless I _have_ to."

And Romania left the two without a backwards glance.

Prussia sighed, before he looked over towards his brother.

"Let's hope that someone stops them in time," Prussia said.

Germany didn't say that he didn't think that anyone _could_ stop those nations. They had put too much planning into this, and their masks were perfect.

But Germany still had one concern left: what would happen to him once their partitions were over?

…

China and Japan were having tea together, discussing the events of the Korean reunification. Something about it didn't sit well with them. They were happy for South Korea, but neither of them was sure if North Korea could be trusted.

Especially considering the attack that happened in the West.

Though it didn't affect them directly, Japan was still worried about his former ally, and the timing of North Korea's escape from isolation _was_ a little suspicious.

Both of them hoped that there wasn't something bigger coming.

…

Côte d'Ivoire, along with the other nine nations that didn't sign the papers, was waiting at the airport. They had decided that they would travel to Morocco, since she didn't know about what had just transpired in the meeting of the African Union. Afterwards, they would see if the news had spread outside the Union, and if not, they would need to go to the Europeans for help.

There was one thing that scared them, though. The quintet had let them go too easily. After all the threats, it just seemed… suspicious.

Unless they were planning something, of course. In which case, the ten nations could be in even more trouble than they had anticipated.

Côte d'Ivoire sighed, looking around. And tensed.

Almost every Ethiopian citizen was watching them, as though waiting for them to make a false move. Everyone – man, woman and child – had the look of a trained soldier in their eyes.

It was then that he put two and two together. How they could have moved so fast. Their citizens were sleeper agents, which meant…

"We need to get out of the airport," he said.

"Why?" Cameroon asked.

"Take a look at the citizens. Tell me, what do they remind you of?"

The other nine did as told, and their eyes widened at the realisation.

"You're right," Chad said. "We _should_ get out of here."

And as though it was the cue they had been waiting for, the people suddenly closed in on the nations, looks of determination on each of their faces. The nations tried to move forward and struggle free from the crowd, and they could manage a few metres, but eventually each of them was restrained by the people.

"Let us go!" Kenya shouted, struggling against her captors.

They froze when the crowd hushed, and they could hear footsteps approaching. They instinctively knew that it was one of _those_ nations. But who had left the meeting early?

The crowd cleared, revealing someone that had managed to scare them even _before_ all of this.

" _Belarus_?" Algeria questioned.

The European smirked, and her features had changed from what it used to be. Now, she looked even _more_ terrifying.

"We knew that some of you would try to get away," Belarus explained. "And we knew you would go to the airport."

"Why are _you_ a part of this?" Ghana asked.

"I have my reasons. Now, since you're so eager to fly away, why don't we get on a plane, and we'll have a little chat there, da?"

 **And now, everyone in Italy's group has revealed themselves. Who do you think was the most surprising?**


	6. Chapter 5

**Thanks to pastaaddict, Nomadic Defender, snowgem33, Lovesbugsalot, shadow of eyes and two anons for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 5**

Côte d'Ivoire, Algeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Chad, the two Congos, the two Sudans and Ghana were on board a plane, their hands tied behind their backs. It was a private plane, so asides from them, it was only the pilot and Belarus.

Said European was calmly sipping a glass of champagne, completely ignoring the Africans. They had tried asking her about what they were doing and _why_ they were doing it, but she acted as though she didn't hear them. Eventually they silenced themselves, settling on glaring at her.

"Nous devons trouver un moyen d'échapper," Côte d'Ivoire whispered.

Cameroon, the two Congos and Chad nodded their heads, and the nations that weren't Francophones might not have known what was being said, but they understood the glint in the others' eyes.

Belarus stared at them blankly, and for a brief moment they wondered if she understood them. She took out her phone and called someone.

They couldn't understand what she was saying, since she spoke in a Slavic language, most likely her own. She grinned before she hung up the phone, and she looked directly at Côte d'Ivoire.

"You seem to be the one that's giving us the most problems," Belarus said. "Egypt warned me about you. We'll see how long you can hold out against _us_."

Côte d'Ivoire shuddered, and the others looked at him with concerned expressions. Kenya seemed furious.

"Leave him alone," Kenya snarled.

"I'd be quiet, if I were you," Belarus said. "You don't want to make things more difficult for you than it needs to be."

"Why?" DRC demanded. "Why do you need us?"

"We want your resources," Belarus said. "You don't realise just how rich you really are. And it would be a shame to let all those resources go to waste."

"So you want us for our riches?" South Sudan demanded, looking furious. "Europeans are apparently always greedy."

"It has nothing to do with being rich. Those metals and rocks just make good materials for weapons. And it makes _us_ grow stronger."

She gave a small smile, and the idea of them helping to create weapons for these nations didn't sit well with the Africans. They wanted to get away as soon as possible, but they had no idea how to do that. They also didn't know what was in store for them, but judging by the look Belarus was giving Côte d'Ivoire, it couldn't be good.

…

"Roma, come join Boss for dinner~"

Romano flinched at the words, and he growled in frustration. He _really_ wanted to shut that voice up permanently, but the South Americans wouldn't forgive him if they didn't get the opportunity to torture and punish Spain.

And he had seen what happened when they were angry.

He would at least get to see as they completely crushed Spain. He would need to keep the popcorn ready for when that happened.

He grudgingly went downstairs to the dining room, but he paused at the door. There was someone sitting at the table that _wasn't_ Spain. Someone that could prove to be a problem if he didn't leave in time.

"What are you doing here, you bastard?" Romano snapped. He didn't need to pretend to be angry.

Portugal shrugged, used to Romano's attitude.

"I came to make sure my little brother is still safe," Portugal said. "You know, what with Germany missing and everything. I also tried to call Mozambique, since she's arranging the annual party for the Portuguese-speaking nations, but I couldn't reach her."

"Don't the Africans have an African Union meeting?" Romano asked.

"How do _you_ know about it?" Portugal asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Romano clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes, though he was a little worried now. He would need to come up with something, fast.

"Unlike my brother and Spain, I actually pay attention to everything that happens in the world," Romano said. "And Egypt told me."

"Why would Egypt tell you?"

"Because we're practically cousins, you damn bastard."

Portugal nodded, apparently accepting Romano's response.

"I guess I'll try to call her later, then," Portugal said. "Sorry for being so suspicious just now. Something's not right, I can feel it."

Romano rolled his eyes, but he was glad that he had managed to dodge a bullet.

"Oh yeah," Portugal said, a twinkle in his eyes, "I saw Argentina the other day. She was… enthusiastic to see me. I didn't even think she liked me in any way. Or maybe she was doing it to spite Spain. He was certainly complaining about it."

While their South American allies didn't like Spain, they were pretty fond of Portugal. He was certainly less greedy than Spain had been when it came to building his empire, and he had also taken the time to visit them whenever he was in that part of the world. And he had opened the doors to the New World, which helped them find more allies and also find more resources.

And Veneziano figured that Portugal would be helpful.

"Don't flatter yourself," Romano said.

He would need to inform the others about Portugal being at Spain's house.

…

Romania was on his way to Switzerland. He had to make a quick stop in Vatican to deliver more of the contracts and to mess a little with the German brothers, but now he had to go to Switzerland via helicopter.

Poland had decided to call him personally for a little mission. It would seem that one of the African nations was giving them trouble. And Romania would be the one to deal with that nation.

Not that he minded. Not in the slightest. It would be fun to practice his old hobby once again.

His mind drifted towards his lover, and the only thing that made him more excited than the prospect of torturing another nation was the thought that soon they would be able to be together. No more hiding their relationship, pretending to be interested in someone else, or pretending that they didn't interact at all.

If Italy and Poland could have a relationship, why couldn't they?

Of course, Italy and Poland not only allowed it, but _encouraged_ them to have relationships with each other. Romania knew that it was to help inspire loyalty and goodwill, as well as camaraderie. And it gave them leverage if any of them decided to betray them. Not that they _would_ , mind you. They had too much riding on their group winning to ever betray them.

Romania knew that he would need to get Moldova to his side soon, by whatever means necessary. He really _did_ care about his brother, and wanted him out of harm's way. And the best place would be right by his side.

And it would also increase their own power. That was important too.

…

Molossia had gone to Mexico, where he, Mexico, Canada and Confederacy were discussing how they would take over America.

And they needed to discuss territories.

"I mostly want Alaska, Wisconsin and Michigan," Canada said.

"Nevada is _mine_ ," Molossia said. "No argument."

Mexico and Confederacy kept arguing about which one would take Texas. Mexico was so far winning the argument, stating that it was the only state on her border and it wouldn't make sense to have an island between her own country and new territories (Canada refrained from mentioning Alaska).

"We can discuss this at another time," Molossia said. "Right now, we need to discuss strategy."

The two women grudgingly stopped their argument and turned to the two males.

"Mexico and I will start from the outside," Canada said. "Confederacy and Molossia can work from the inside. A disturbance at the border, Confederate Pride… Just, for now, make it subtle so that America isn't immediately suspicious."

"It's Yankee," Confederacy said, rolling her eyes. "He's not gonna be suspicious. We'd probably have about half of the country before he notices that something's wrong."

"Don't underestimate him," Canada warned. "He's gotten pretty paranoid when it comes to attacks. He might notice something's up before we even get to work. He'd also be on edge after what happened in Germany, and if word gets out about the Africans…"

"What about the Africans now?" Mexico asked.

"We seized control of most of the continent in one fell swoop," Canada explained. "It was a – relatively – peaceful takeover, with blackmail mostly involved. There are only eleven nations that we haven't gotten. Well, not formally. Ten of them had been captured and the eleventh isn't a member of the Union."

"You guys move fast," Confederacy observed.

"We want to make sure we have a decent amount of land before the rest of the world notices that something is going on."

"Speaking of," Mexico said. "When am I going to get to torture Spain?"

"You and our South American allies will need to wait for the order from Italy and Poland," Canada said. "Romano is making sure that Spain doesn't do something in the meantime. Venezuela expressed the wish to destroy Spain from the very top."

"Si. It would be most satisfying. I'm assuming that France and England are on your list?"

"Oui. Egypt and India are with me on this. I'm going to enjoy taking the two of them down."

"Cherry syrup time, huh?" Molossia asked.

"Um, what now?" Confederacy asked.

"It's when Canada gets particularly sadistic and homicidal," Molossia explained. "He doesn't care who he kills or how. As long as he leaves a trail of corpses in his wake."

Confederacy smirked, turning to Canada.

"I have a feeling that you and I are going to get along swimmingly," Confederacy said, almost purring.

"Forget it," Molossia said. "He's already taken."

"What?" Mexico asked, eyes wide. "And… does this nation – it _is_ a nation, right? – know about your true nature?"

"Of course," Canada said. "He's part of it."

Mexico looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Wow, you're good," Mexico said. "I can't think of anyone you're particularly close to that could possibly be your lover. Wait, it's not Romano, is it?"

"Nope," Molossia said, smirking. "It's someone you're not really going to expect."

"I guess I'll have to wait."

"Let's get back on track," Confederacy said. "Let's see how much trouble we can cause Yank in a week, and then we'll meet up again."

"Do we have clearance?" Mexico asked, looking at Canada.

"Oui," he said. "We can do anything we want, as long as America is significantly weaker by the time the world finds out about us."

"I can't wait for the big reveal," Mexico said, smirking.

…

Italy, Poland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein were at an isolated peak on Matterhorn. Snow was drifting down, the wind starting to howl. There would be a blizzard soon.

Behind them stood a building, small and inconspicuous if you looked on the outside, but inside it was a state-of-the-art facility, complete with special holding cells. In front of them was an airstrip, a helicopter pad nearby.

They watched as a helicopter descended, and Italy smirked. They waited for a moment, and soon the nation that was in the helicopter stepped out, smirking darkly.

"Am I late?" Romania asked, walking closer.

"On the contrary," Italy said. "We're still waiting for Belarus."

Romania nodded his head, looking to the southwest.

They waited in silence, none of them caring about the cold. Eventually they saw something approaching, and soon enough a small plane landed on the airstrip.

"Stay out of sight," Poland said to Romania.

"Da, I know," Romania said.

Italy, Poland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland boarded the plane, where Belarus was waiting with their ten captives. She smirked when she saw them, and the African nations widened their eyes in astonishment.

" _You_?" Kenya snarled.

"That's right," Poland said. "Fooled you, didn't we? Now come along."

They struggled, of course. They wouldn't be nations if they just accepted what was happening to them. But the others were stronger, and they easily grabbed the African prisoners.

Italy took the two Congos, Poland the two Sudans, Switzerland took Chad and Cameroon, Liechtenstein took Kenya, and Belarus took Algeria and Ghana. Only Côte d'Ivoire remained on board, and when they realised it, the prisoners started to panic.

"What are you going to do to him?!" Kenya demanded, struggling in Liechtenstein's grip.

"Oh, he's just going with one of our other friends," Liechtenstein said, smiling sweetly. "Don't worry. You'll hear from him soon."

They weren't reassured, but they couldn't do anything about it. The Europeans had a strong grip. _Too_ strong. Strong enough to easily pull two fellow nations each.

They led their prisoners inside the base, and the Africans took a moment to admire the building before they were pushed underground, where the holding cells were.

Each of them was locked in a cell, their bonds untied. The cells were soundproofed, and they couldn't speak to each other. What caught their attention was that each cell also had an intercom, which they found bizarre.

Meanwhile, Romania stepped onto the plane, and Côte d'Ivoire looked at the other in worry. Romania smirked.

"What do you want with me?" Côte d'Ivoire asked.

"Belarus mentioned that you seem to be the little leader among your group," Romania said. "That's the same thing that Egypt said. So break you, break the others."

Côte d'Ivoire's eyes widened, and he struggled when Romania grabbed him. Romania dragged him off, going towards the helicopter.

"S'il vous plaît, let me go," Côte d'Ivoire begged. "Please, I know you're better than this."

"Nu," Romania said darkly. "I haven't had the chance to _really_ torture someone in so long. I'm going to have fun with _you_."

Côte d'Ivoire looked at Romania with wide eyes, knowing that once again, someone wasn't who they had pretended to be. How was it possible for so many nations to fool others for as long as they did?

Romania shoved the African nation into the back of the helicopter, but not without applying a headset without a microphone. Côte d'Ivoire was reassured in the fact that they weren't cruel enough to destroy his hearing.

Côte d'Ivoire couldn't help but look up when the rotors started moving, and soon enough they were in the air, heading towards Romania.

It was simple, Romania thought. Make sure the other prisoners had no idea where their friend was being taken in the event that one of them managed to escape and find another nation. Romania licked his lips in anticipation, glancing towards his prisoner. He couldn't _wait_ to completely destroy him.

…

Morocco frowned. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

She could feel the shift. Her neighbours were doing something, or something happened to them. Whatever it was, something was seriously wrong.

She dialled the number of one of her neighbours, Algeria. She knew that the African Union meeting would have been dismissed by now.

So it was concerning when she reached voicemail. Algeria _never_ left her phone on voicemail. It was always charged, and in meetings she would leave it on silent. Never off. And she knew they were in Addis Ababa, so she shouldn't have had an issue with cell phone signal.

She weighed her options. She knew about Germany and Prussia disappearing, and she knew about North Korea coming out of isolation. And it would seem something was happening in Africa.

Every one of her instincts was screaming at her to leave the continent, and who was she to ignore her instincts?

She wondered how France would feel if she suddenly went to visit him.

…

Finland was fiddling with his phone when he got a text. He looked around to make sure that none of the others were around before reading the message from San Marino.

 _Take care of the weakest._

Finland smirked. He knew exactly what it meant. He was given permission to take their first Nordic target.

Iceland.

Of course, this one would be a peaceful takeover. Finland had no reason to hate the youngest member of their group. The other three, on the other hand…

Finland shook his head. He had to focus. He couldn't mess things up. And he also couldn't show his real self so soon to the other Nordics. He would need to get Iceland alone.

He went towards his room, opening his desk drawer. He removed a secret compartment, revealing a few papers – contracts – and one or two knives.

He had slipped up before. Everyone knew how proficient Finland was with guns. How good of a sniper he was. The same went for Canada and Switzerland. But no one knew how good they were with knives.

They actually preferred knives, to be completely honest. Knives were more personal, and one could see the pain and horror on the enemy's face a lot clearly. And with knives, you could _feel_ the flesh give way. You could decide how slow the weapon was when it entered the other's body. And if you positioned it _just right_ , you could feel the other's heartbeat through the blade, coming in through the hilt.

He would wait until everyone was asleep. When there would be no interruptions.

And then it was time to enlighten Iceland on the truth of the matter.

…

Brazil was fixing himself a cocktail after a long day of work. Whoever decided that nations should do that insane amount of paperwork could go to hell, in the Brazilian's opinion. He had much more important things to do, such as go to the beach and admire the beautiful women of his country.

He was just about to take a sip of his drink when he heard someone knocking on his door. He placed the glass down and went to answer the door.

"Argentina?" Brazil asked. He looked at the other nations. "Venezuela, Peru, Chile? What are you guys doing here?"

"Hola Brazil," Venezuela said. "I hope you don't mind. We thought we'd like to visit you."

"At the same time? Next time, call first. Oh, where are my manners? Come in."

He allowed the other nations inside, and only once the last one passed the threshold did he feel that something was off. Shaking his head, he wrote it off as his imagination.

There was no way that his friends would hurt him, right?

 **That part of having an island between territories refers to having empty space between two things/areas. And yes, I've studied the map of the USA in order to see which territories would work for them. More on the division later.**

 **And the first hint of the side pairings. Now, here's a new game. Who do you think is paired with who? Remember, I really like crack pairings, so anything goes.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Thanks to stormpix, Margaret, topaz3, Viofan238, Story Critic Kat, Skye Phoenix Dove, SilverStarJones, snowgem33, Lovesbugsalot, yanrulim, pastaaddict and three anons for reviewing.**

 **So, many people guessed CanadaXRomania, and I know I have a history with this pairing (it being one of my top three OTPs and all), but not this time. I have another HCSS story in the works for Canmania. This game isn't going to be that easy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 6**

Brazil struggled under Peru. He didn't expect the other to be so strong.

He was leading the way to the living room when they suddenly tackled him, pinning him to the ground. The Brazilian was beyond confused, not knowing why this was happening at all.

Argentina crouched down beside him, giving him a cold smirk that made him shudder when he saw it.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Did you think that Germany would be the end?" Argentina asked.

Brazil blinked in confusion, before his eyes widened in realisation.

"You… you're part of whatever's happening," he said.

"Si," Peru said. "We managed to fool them all."

"Be glad that Italy and Poland want you unharmed," Venezuela said, circling the group. "Otherwise, you'd be screaming in pure agony by now."

"It's been a while since we let loose," Argentina said, flashing a vicious smile.

"Italy?" Brazil repeated. "Poland? What do _they_ have to do with this?"

"How do you think Germany was caught unaware?"

It took a moment for Brazil to understand what was being said. He growled in anger.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded.

"War," the other four nations said simultaneously.

"Specifically, a war where we can be ourselves," Chile said. "We enjoy seeing pain and suffering. And you would be screaming, if it weren't for the fact that we have strict orders not to hurt you. Much."

"Why do you even follow those orders?" Brazil demanded.

"Because if it weren't for those original orders, we'd be broken and moulded into the perfect little children," Argentina spat. "It's bad enough that Spain had to "discipline" us for trivial things. Imagine what it would have been like had he known how we _really_ are. We'd make the Spanish Inquisition look _tame_ in comparison."

"What do you want with me?" Brazil asked.

"You're going to sign a little contract," Peru said. "And then you're going to help us to _persuade_ your Papa Portugal."

"What? Why would I do that?"

"You wouldn't have a choice," Venezuela said. "You see, we figured that out of all of Portugal's old colonies, you were the one he was closest to. And still is. He won't let anything happen to you."

"You're crazy," Brazil said.

"Took you long enough to figure it out," Argentina said, taking out her cell phone.

Brazil watched as she called someone, a strange smirk on her face.

"Would you mind having a little chat with our amigo over here?" she asked the person on the other end.

She then brought the phone over to Brazil's ear, allowing him to speak with whoever was on the other end.

"Who is this?" Brazil growled.

He heard a chuckle on the other side, and his blood turned cold when he recognised the voice.

"I'm guessing you're a little angry at the surprise."

"Raj?!"

"That's right," India said. "Whatever they're telling you to do, I suggest you do it. The South Americans can be pretty vicious, and they've been holding back for too long. They need to satisfy their bloodlust, and you don't want to be the one that helps them with that."

"Why are you doing this?" Brazil demanded.

"Let's just say, I recognise a new world order when it's coming. And honestly, after being the 'crown jewel', I want to be the one that wears the crown for a change. South Africa's already come over to our side. Not willingly, of course. And you know everything that South Africa has to offer."

Brazil paled at the thought. Yes, he was there when she went over her latest mining reports. They've done a lot of business together as well. He knew _exactly_ what she had to offer.

"Why me?" Brazil asked.

"You happen to be in the fortunate position of being a rising power," India said. "And when we take on the current and former super powers, that's going to be pretty useful. Now be good with the South Americans."

And India hung up. Argentina took her phone back.

"Well?" she demanded.

"I don't want this," Brazil said, slowly shaking his head. "Could you… could you at least let me think about this?"

"So, you want some time where you ponder things over," Peru said. "Where we leave you alone. _That's_ not going to happen. We can't let you go running to anyone, now can we?"

"You're not leaving our sight," Venezuela said. "You're not even leaving that position."

"Then could you at least get me my drink?" Brazil pleaded. "If I'm forced to make a decision I know I'll regret, then at least make me able to blame the alcohol."

…

Finland had waited until the other Nordics were asleep before he slipped into Iceland's room, a knife and a piece of paper in his hands. He looked at the sleeping Iceland for a moment before placing the piece of paper on the bedside table.

He then climbed on top of Iceland, startling the other awake.

"Fin?" Iceland asked, his voice groggy. "What are you doing?"

Finland gave his 'usual' bright smile and lifted the knife. Instantly, Iceland was wide awake.

"What's going on?" Iceland demanded, a little too loud for Finland's taste.

"Quiet," Finland hissed, his voice cold. "We don't want anyone else to come in, do we?"

Finland lightly placed the knife against Iceland's throat, and the younger swallowed.

"I see you understand," Finland said, removing the knife.

"Why are you doing this?" Iceland asked, his voice a lot quieter, almost a whisper.

"My allies decided that it's time to strike," Finland said. "We're going to start the next World War. And it's going to be the last one, I guarantee."

"Are you crazy? Why would you do something like that?"

"Tell me, do you remember the Kalmar Union?"

Iceland blinked in confusion. Usually it was only Denmark that brought the subject up, and the other spoke about it fondly. Occasionally Norway or Sweden would speak of it as well, but Finland would usually avoid the subject.

"What does that have to do with this?" Iceland asked.

Finland chuckled darkly.

"I should have known that you wouldn't understand," Finland said. "You were Norway's little brother. Doted on. Protected. While I was the odd one out. The one with a language completely different from the others. The one with a different culture. I was treated as a servant, and occasionally a dog. I was _nothing_ to them. You all thought that I _willingly_ went with Sweden when he decided to leave? The truth couldn't be farther. If I never met with any of the others, I might have really been the weak and pathetic person you all thought I was."

Iceland's eyes were wide and afraid. Finland grinned at the sight.

"What do you want?" Iceland asked, his voice a whisper.

"I don't really have a reason to destroy you," Finland said. "You were just a little kid. So I'm giving you a choice. Either you submit yourself to us and we'll let you live, _or_ you can refuse and Iceland will be no more. Tell me, hypothetically, what would happen if every single volcano in Iceland erupted simultaneously?"

Iceland's eyes widened, and he trembled at the thought. Finland smirked.

"We can make it happen," Finland said. "A few bombs here and there could do the trick."

"You think a bomb is strong enough to make them erupt?" Iceland asked.

"Depends on how strong they are. And how many you have."

Iceland closed his eyes, and Finland waited patiently. He toyed with the knife, subtly reminding Iceland to be quiet.

Finally, Iceland opened his eyes, and Finland's smirk widened when he saw the fear and the resignation.

"What are you going to do with the others?" Iceland asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Finland asked.

Iceland's breath hitched, and Finland knew that he needed to think of a compromise.

"If you're a good boy, I'm sure we can negotiate," Finland said. "If you give problems, then I'll make sure you witness the end of Scandinavia. Are we clear?"

Iceland closed his eyes and nodded, and Finland smiled brightly.

"Great," he said. "Now, there's a little paper I want you to sign."

…

Romania led Côte d'Ivoire through his home, towards his basement. And then there was a subbasement that only a handful of nations knew about. And now Côte d'Ivoire would be one of those nations.

The African nation looked around when he saw the room, eyes wide with fear.

It was a torture chamber.

"Why am I here?" Côte d'Ivoire demanded, struggling in his bonds and against the grip Romania had on his upper arm.

Romania turned to him, his red eyes dark with a sadistic smirk on his face.

"You're going to help us get your little friends on board," Romania said. "They're locked in soundproofed rooms, each on their own. There's an intercom in each room. An intercom connected to a microphone in this very room. How strong do you think their resolve would be if the only sound they could hear, other than their own voice, would be your agonised screaming and begging and crying? And nothing to distract them from it?"

Côte d'Ivoire stared at Romania with wide eyes, trembling at the thought. Romania continued to drag him towards a chair that didn't exactly look comfortable, in more than one way. Romania tied him to the chair.

"And do you know the best part?" Romania asked. "They don't know _where_ you are. Even if they escape, they wouldn't know where to go in order to save you."

"Then I'll just tell them," Côte d'Ivoire said. "You won't get away with this…"

Côte d'Ivoire had tried to say Romania's name, but couldn't. Nothing other than a croaking sound came out of his mouth. He tried again, but without success.

"You think I didn't think you'd say my name while begging?" Romania asked. "I cast a spell that prevents you from saying my name. So no one will know where to search for you. No one will know who's torturing you."

Côte d'Ivoire trembled at the thought. It was obvious to the Romanian that he was absolutely terrified, and Romania enjoyed the sight immensely.

"I'm going to show you a little act of kindness," Romania said. "Is there something you would like to drink? Water, juice, wine…?"

Côte d'Ivoire swallowed before he shook his head. It wouldn't matter, anyway. Romania nodded.

"Then let's begin."

…

Cameroon was pacing in his cell. He didn't know why they were all there, or why they were isolated. And he especially couldn't understand why they were all in a soundproofed room. It didn't make sense. Did they think that they could break them by driving them insane through silence?

He also couldn't understand the purpose of the intercom. Would they make their demands through that? What did they _want_?

Okay, the last question was a bit redundant. They all knew what they were after, but no matter what, they wouldn't break. They hoped.

Though thus far, asides from bringing their food to them, they had left them well enough alone. And that bothered Cameroon.

It also bothered him that he didn't know what happened to Côte d'Ivoire. He knew that something would happen to the other, but what it was, he did not know.

He was completely startled when he heard the intercom being turned on, and he waited with baited breath for whatever message would come through that.

Nothing had prepared him for what he _did_ hear.

Côte d'Ivoire was screaming. A scream of pure agony that words couldn't describe. The system they used was clear, and Cameroon felt as through Côte d'Ivoire was in the room with him.

"Yves," he whispered.

The screaming continued for a while, and Cameroon sighed in relief when it stopped, only to have it start again, louder and higher than the first. Cameroon clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block the noise out, but it echoed in the soundless room, making it seem louder than it should be.

Cameroon felt tears running from his eyes as he realised what was happening. They were in a soundless room, unable to communicate with each other, and the only voice they heard, other than their own, was the voice of one of their friends screaming in pain.

When the volume and pitch increased again, Cameroon was sure that he heard an electric charge on the other side. Having an idea of what Côte d'Ivoire was going through didn't help. If anything, it made things worse.

"Someone, please help us," Cameroon whispered.

In the other cells, the other African nations were going through the same thing, some even screaming as well. They had been prepared to be tortured, but this was far worse than anything they could have anticipated. It wasn't until very late in the night that the screaming stopped, and they all went to sleep with tears staining their faces, knowing that in the morning, it was likely to start again.

…

The man was startled when he heard someone knock on his door. It was the middle of the night, or at least very early morning, and hearing someone knock was always a bad omen.

He grabbed a nearby knobkierie and slowly crept towards the door. He kept his ears open for any intruders, but found none.

When he finally reached the door he sighed, before looking through the peephole. He sighed in relief when he recognised the blond hair, and opened the door.

The relief was short-lived, though, when he saw her distraught expression.

"White, what's wrong?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be in Ethiopia?"

He could see that she had been crying, and considering how late it was, he knew that something was seriously wrong.

"Were you mugged?" he asked.

She chuckled, but it was full of bitterness. He felt afraid, and looked her over to see if she was hurt.

"It's not that," she said. "If it _was_ , I would have been prepared for it."

He frowned in confusion, but let her inside. She made her way to the living room while he made _his_ way to the kitchen. He prepared a cup of tea and a mug of coffee, unsure of which she would prefer. It might even be both.

He returned carrying the two beverages, and he took note of everything about her. She was extremely pale, and her eyes were red from crying. There were dark rings under her eyes, and they looked distant.

She immediately went for the tea, which told him that she was looking for comfort. That scared him even more. The last time she came to him for comfort was after Sharpeville, when she had come to ask for forgiveness. The two of them had comforted each other that day.

"What happened?" he asked. "Why aren't you in Ethiopia?"

"They sent us home," she said. "We need to await _orders_."

His eyes widened when he heard that.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"They were holding nearly fifty nations hostage," she whispered. "They were threatening Lesotho. I know that neither of us would want that."

"White, you're not making any sense," he said. "Start from the beginning."

She looked away, and he sighed.

"Anika, please."

They hardly ever referred to each other by their human names. It was always Black or White, Native or Colonial, Zulu or Boer. It was almost never Themba or Anika.

She looked up to him and took a shuddering breath.

"The meeting started as normal," she said. "But when we opened our folders… There were contracts in each of them, and they demanded loyalty. The contracts were enchanted, and we couldn't destroy them. The doors were locked and they told us that they had bombs in each of our countries. We had to sign…"

He walked over and sat down next to her. He threw his arm around her and she leaned into the embrace. That only made him worry more.

"What was the contract about?" he asked.

He was startled when she started to cry, and he could feel his own terror growing.

"Absolute loyalty," she whispered. "We're not allowed to trade with other nations, we're not really allowed to _speak_ to other nations. We need to give them whatever they demand."

"Who are they?" he asked.

"The ones in Africa? Egypt, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Libya. Those _outside_ of Africa? They range from Canada to both Koreas, and Italy and Poland are their leaders."

"If Italy and Poland are the leaders, then we don't have much to worry about."

"They also have Switzerland and India on their side."

He could feel his stomach drop.

"Did they ask you to do something?" he asked.

"Ja," she said. "They want me to reopen the weapons' program."

He knew what she was talking about. She had felt guilty about it and came clean to the rest of the world, even if she didn't _have_ to. She was the only African nation that had made nuclear weapons, and the only one in the world that destroyed them.

Or at least, that's what she told the rest of the world.

"Did you tell them about the ones you've hidden away?" he asked.

She sobbed and nodded her head.

"I had to," she whispered.

"Did you tell them about me?"

She shook her head and he sighed in relief.

Ever since they became a Union in 1910, she was the one that represented them. She was the one that the bosses wanted, and when they were forced to separate, _she_ was the one the rest of the world knew. And after their reunion, she was the one that took care of the international affairs while he took care of the internal affairs.

But something like this would definitely affect both of them.

"We're facing World War Three, aren't we?" he asked.

"It looks like it," she whispered.

He would try to help her as much as he could. He had no choice anymore.

They were both South Africa.

 **So, a few headcanons for South Africa involve there being more than one representative and each representative is a different race. The two most common are black and white. Anika is the one that everyone's familiar with (if you've read Game of Mirrors), and represents White South Africa, Colonial South Africa or the Boer Republic. Themba is Black South Africa, Native South Africa or the Zulu Empire. There were others, but these two were the strongest and made it to the top. Their relationship is interesting, since the two of them fight like cats and dogs, but the moment someone from the outside picks a side then they would defend each other. So basically, no one can mess with the other except them. In this story, only a handful of nations know about both of them, but in others I will probably make sure that everyone knows about the two of them. The two tend to fight so much that at one point their boss decided to keep them separated, which led to a little thing called Apartheid. Anika is also a little more manipulative than Themba, which means she made sure that their bosses were on her side during Apartheid. They would sometimes come together because Anika felt guilty about the situation, like the Sharpeville reference, but they usually start a fight after a short time. And yeah, because the rest of the world only knows about Anika, Themba takes care of anything internal while Anika takes care of anything external.**

 **South Africa's the only African nation that's ever had nuclear weapons, and according to official records they've been destroyed, since the biggest reason why they were made is 'to see if we can'. However, there are a few theories that the nukes are still around. South Africa also has a large uranium reserve, and according to a friend of mine that loves doing research on the subject, we have all the ingredients to make several different types of nuclear weapons without having to import any.**

 **I'll be doing a flashback chapter next to explain some of their backstories.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Thanks to fishstick1999, ScandinavianTrash, snowgem33, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **As I've mentioned, this will be a flashback chapter. This shows how they all became part of it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 7**

Veneziano and Romano watched their grandfather as he returned, looking worse for wear. He smiled at them, but they could tell that it was false. Rome had lost. And judging by the blood, the loss was severe.

Rome had gone to treat his wounds, forbidding his grandsons from helping him. Call it pride, or call it protection. Either way, Rome didn't want them to see the damage.

"Nonno won't be able to survive for much longer," Veneziano said, reaching for an apple from the bowl of fruits laid out in front of them.

"What makes you say that?" Romano asked.

"The fact that we exist. Why would a nation need an heir if the nation is doing alright?"

"You've got a good point. And once he's gone, they'll probably be coming after us."

"Si. We need to think of a plan."

The two remained silent for a few moments, trying to think of a good plan. Finally, Veneziano's face lit up, and he closed his eyes, smiling obliviously.

"What are you doing?" Romano asked.

"Ve, I'm pretending," Veneziano said.

"'Ve'? Feliciano, what kind of game are you playing?"

"A game," Veneziano said, a thoughtful look on his face. "Si. How long can we make the world think that the two of us are weak?"

Romano blinked in confusion.

"Why would we do that?" Romano asked.

"Because if they think we're weak, they'll let their guard down," Veneziano explained. "And if they let their guard down, it'll be easy to take them down."

Romano stared at his brother before smirking.

"That's not a bad idea," Romano said. "Should I come up with something too?"

"Si," Veneziano said. "Why don't you be the half of the country that no one wants? Rude, grumpy… send them to me."

"But, wouldn't that make _you_ the target?" Romano asked, eyes wide.

"I'm physically stronger than you, fratello," Veneziano said, not unkindly. "I'm going to protect you. And besides, I figured that we shouldn't do things alone. We'll find a few strong allies that would do anything, not because their people want to, but because _they_ want to. People who are a lot darker than they would seem, and who could fool everyone."

"Why would you need to involve others?"

"Because look at Nonno. He's getting too big to manage. We need people who we can trust to help us manage the world."

"Fine. When are we going to do it then?"

"Patience, fratello. Let's see what the world has to offer us first."

…

Poland sulked as he followed his king towards Italy. He had heard that the nation was a weak and whiny little baby, and he wasn't particularly keen on befriending someone like that, and _yes_ , his king had told him to befriend Italy.

And when they actually met, Poland could say that he was honestly disgusted.

Ordered to play together, and to be _nice_ , Poland found himself hating the other nation. Italy didn't seem bothered, smiling brightly.

After a few hours of watching Italy play while Poland stood to the side, he couldn't take it anymore and screamed in frustration. Italy jumped in surprise.

"W-what's wrong?" Italy asked.

"You are an annoying little brat!" Poland spat. "What is it with that singing and the laughing? _No one_ is that cheerful. It sickens me. My king wants an alliance with your country, and I can't stand the thought of spending however long this alliance lasts with you. It's making me sick."

And Poland lashed out, punching Italy. Or he tried to.

Poland's eyes widened as Italy caught his wrist, moments before spinning his arm around and trapping the arm against his back. Poland glared back at the other and his eyes widened. Italy had opened his eyes. They were cold, and combined with the whimsical smile on his face, he looked creepy.

"Si, you're right," Italy said, and his voice sounded completely different. "No one is that cheerful all the time. Especially not a nation. But you proved that my tactic works."

Poland looked confused for a moment, wondering what kind of tactic the other was talking about, before realisation hit. He had severely underestimated Italy, and that had led to his current position.

Poland smirked. Clever.

Italy released him, and Poland turned to regard the other nation.

"So what's the point of your little charade?" Poland asked.

"You know who my grandfather was, right?" Italy asked.

"Of course. The Roman Empire. The greatest conqueror the world has ever…" Poland blinked in realisation. "You want to follow in his footsteps."

"In a way, yes," Italy said. "But I was thinking of larger territories, and I'm going to be smart about it. For one thing, I'm not going to be doing it alone. I'll have mio fratello with me."

"Wha…? Oh, your brother. And let me guess, you want me to become your first territory. Not going to happen."

"Actually, I had something else in mind. I've done a lot of research on you, Poland. You're a schemer, like me. You're sadistic, like me. And you enjoy pushing people around. My fratello may act tough, but that's his act. He's not a leader, like you or me. So what I'm proposing is that we become allies. Equal partners. We're going to watch the world burn."

Poland smirked at the thought.

"Yes, I'd like that," he said.

…

Switzerland stared at Italy. It was a good plan, he had to admit. And it would be fun.

"So," Italy said, "what do you say?"

"First, tell me," Switzerland said, "why do you want _me_ to join you?"

"Because we could use a good mercenary on our team. Someone who can practice control and keep others in line."

"I see. I'll think about it."

"Don't think too long."

…

Egypt was disgusted with what his country had become. Everything his mother worked for, swallowed by the sand, only to be replaced by… _them_.

The Arab nations had taken away everything he valued of his mother. He had tried to fight back, but it was all for nought. It happened, whether he liked it or not.

He was on his way to his house when he paused, staring at the people sitting on his doorstep. It was rare for them to be anywhere without their caretakers, but he was usually in the same predicament.

"Ciao, Gupta," Veneziano greeted.

Egypt narrowed his eyes, looking at his two 'cousins'.

"What are the two of you doing here?" he asked.

"We have a proposal for you," Romano said.

The two of them were acting the way they had when Rome was still alive, which was a little unsettling for Egypt.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Would you like to restore your mother's legacy?" Veneziano asked.

Egypt regarded them for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's useless," he said. "The Arabs are stronger, larger, and outnumber me. I guess it's only a matter of time before they swallow me up."

"But what if you could change that?" Veneziano asked.

Egypt looked at them dubiously.

"And how do you suppose I do that?" he asked.

"Did you know that nations _can_ control their people?" Veneziano asked. "Plant an idea in their heads. It grows stronger through passing it on from generation to generation. If you plant the idea in their heads _now_ , then in a few decades, or a few hundred years, you'll have people ready to fight for you, _without_ the influence of your leader."

Egypt thought about it for a moment, before his eyes narrowed.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"We're planning on building another empire that would leave Nonno's in the dust," Veneziano explained. "But we're not going to make the same mistake as him. You know, becoming too big to manage. Which is why we're recruiting allies. Equal partners. And since we're cousins, we thought of you."

"That, and we could really use your magic," Romano said.

"I see," he said. "And why should I agree?"

"Because you want to see the Arabs crumble," Veneziano said, "and we're giving you a way to do it."

…

Belarus growled, glaring at her brother and sister. She was the baby, and so they didn't take her words seriously. She had so much to offer, but they threw it away.

" _Someone's_ a little hostile," a voice remarked.

She whirled around, glaring at the blond standing behind her. She acted angry, but in truth she was afraid.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want?"

"I mean you no harm," he said. "Although I would keep my voice quiet if I were you. You wouldn't want your older siblings to think you're in trouble and then to take your freedom away in the name of 'protecting' you."

Belarus's eyes narrowed, wondering how he knew about what they would do.

"My name is Poland," the blond explained. "And I have an offer for you."

"What is it?" she spat.

"You see, we're gathering allies for the greatest war ever. And if we play our cards right, it would be the last war. Until then, win some and lose some. The important thing is to trick the world until the time is right."

"And when _will_ the time be right?"

He smirked, knowing she was interested.

"When we have complete and utter control of our people, and not the other way around," Poland said. "And when we have more resources than anyone could think possible. Weapons, food, money…"

"And why are you telling me this?" Belarus asked.

"Because we want you to join us. You have the potential to be a ruthless and methodical soldier. I can see it in your eyes. And you have access farther east than I do. So, do you want to join?"

…

Romania smirked, looking around at the battlefield. There were bodies everywhere, but that wasn't what he was focusing on. It was the blood. All the glorious blood that was staining the earth red.

It was like art.

He licked his fingers, which were also stained with blood. When people spoke of the bloodthirsty, they had no idea what it _truly_ meant.

"Very impressive," a voice said.

Romania's eyes widened, whirling around. He glared at Poland, who looked oddly relaxed amongst the carnage.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Romania demanded. "Are you here under Turkey's orders?"

"No," Poland said, examining his nails. "The only one that knows I'm here is an ally of mine, and you should know him. Italy Veneziano?"

Romania glared at Poland.

"Da, we're cousins," Romania said. " _Very_ distant cousins. And I want nothing to do with that simpering weakling."

"He's not a weakling, you know," Poland said. "I learned that the hard way. It's a clever tactic. One we all employ. Pretend to be someone you're not. Catch your enemies off guard. And when the time's right, we strike. And we want you to join our circle of friends."

"And why should I?" Romania demanded.

"Think about it. If Turkey succeeds, you're going to have to work for him. You're going to have to do this under his orders, or you wouldn't be allowed to do this at all anymore."

Romania looked at the carnage, and he whimpered at the thought of not being able to do that anymore.

"And if I follow you, I'm going to have fun on _your_ orders instead," Romania suggested.

"For the first while, at least," Poland said. "We don't want to make you our subject. We want to make you our ally. You'll just need to keep up appearances for a while. We're not completely sure how long it's going to last. Trust me, I'm sick of this farce as well."

"And why would you approach _me_ in the first place?" Romania asked. "You've probably heard the rumours, and you can see for yourself. I'm a bloodthirsty barbarian."

"Bloodthirsty? Yes. Barbarian? No. We need someone as sadistic as you, who's not afraid to get their hands dirty. And I heard that you're good at magic. We might need something like that. Egypt's good, but another branch of magic might be helpful."

Romania's eyes twinkled, but he still had his reservations.

"And I'm to assume we're going to be 'equal partners'?" Romania asked.

"We're not going to force you to do anything you don't want to," Poland said. "And if you want to protect someone, we wouldn't object. Just don't go telling them about us without me or Italy knowing about them and what they can offer. The two of us have done a lot of planning, and we want to be absolutely sure of our allies."

"That makes sense," Romania said. "So, if given the chance, you would let me torture whoever I want, in whatever way I want?"

"Of course."

"Then count me in."

…

Finland was pacing nervously. Sweden had dragged him to Poland's house, in order to take Estonia and Latvia, and he was seriously thinking about a way to escape from the Scandinavian nation. Every previous attempt had failed, and he was trying to find a new way.

He jumped when the door opened, expecting Sweden, but he was surprised to see Poland, looking at him with thoughtful green eyes.

"Oh, mister Poland," Finland said, a little nervous. "How can I help you?"

"I want to ask you something," Poland said, stepping closer. "Tell me, are you _happy_ following after Sweden?"

Finland swallowed and averted his eyes.

"If this is about Estonia and Latvia…" Finland began.

"It's not. This is about you. Now, tell me."

Finland swallowed, before looking at Poland.

"He scares me," Finland said. "They all scared me. I went with Sweden because I didn't like how I was being treated in Denmark's house. And I figured one of them would be better than two, and especially three. I've been trying to get away, but Sweden's caught on to me every time."

Poland nodded his head, as though a question had been answered.

"But are you _really_ only scared of him?" Poland asked. "I can see it in your eyes. There's a spark that's been smothered for too long. But a spark nonetheless. Tell me, how did they treat you? Your people? Your language? Your leaders?"

As he spoke, Finland could feel his rage building. He clenched his fists in fury, but his face remained the same. However, Poland still saw this and smirked.

"If you want, you can join me and my allies in the long run," Poland said. "We don't have a guarantee of when we're going to strike, just know that when we _do_ strike, we're going to take down the entire world. You can join us, if you want to get back at Sweden and the others."

Finland looked at him with wide eyes, before they narrowed.

"Are these allies the Baltics?" Finland asked. "Because no offence to them, they're not strong or brave enough to do something like what you're saying."

"Of course not," Poland said dismissively. "This is just part of our little act. My _true_ allies are people you would never guess. People who have a nasty streak that could certainly give those Vikings a run for their money."

"Alright then. I'm in."

…

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me," Romano growled.

Spain had dragged him along to visit Portugal, and much to Romano's chagrin, Portugal had found a previously undiscovered land at the southernmost point in Africa. That meant that the maps were wrong.

That meant that the world was bigger.

That meant that they would need to get territories in the other undiscovered lands as well.

…

Canada was wild. Or he was meant to be.

As soon as the Europeans came again, he toned it down. He could remember how the previous ones were scared off by his ferocious ways, leaving him in the cold to fend for himself. He would need to be smart about this.

France was taking him to meet an old friend of his, Spain. Apparently the other European had a colony as well, and France thought that they could play together. Canada didn't understand _why_ , though.

But that posed a problem. If Canada got annoyed and slipped…

"Here we are, mon petit cher," France said, distracting the small colony.

Canada swallowed nervously. As long as he didn't get angry, he could fool this other colony, along with the Europeans.

Unfortunately, Romano was testing his patience.

"Man, Maple Jerk, compared to the ones farther south, you're pathetic," Romano remarked. "What, are you scared or something? Because you should be. But man, you've got to be weak to be _that_ scared of _me_."

Canada was trembling and tears were in his eyes, but it was from neither fear nor sadness. It was anger. And Romano was pushing him farther than he could handle.

Eventually Canada snapped, and he tackled Romano to the ground, wrapping his hands around the other's neck.

"Shut. Up," Canada said coldly.

To his surprise, Romano didn't look surprised or panicked, and he actually _smirked_. That caught Canada off guard, enough to loosen his grip a little.

"I knew it," Romano said. "I knew there's someone with killer's instincts under that act. You're a lot smarter than the southerners, I'll give you that."

"What are you talking about?" Canada demanded, no longer keeping his voice subdued.

"You see, my allies and I have been pretending to be something we're not, just like you have. In the long run, we're going to take over the world. Preferably once all of us are physically older, you know. I mean, who would bow down to someone that looks like a kid?"

"Well, it _would_ make their defeat more humiliating," Canada said.

Romano looked thoughtful for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"That's a good mental image," Romano said. "I like you. You're vicious, but you're also smart. So, would you like to join our group?"

"And if I refuse?"

"Well, you realise that we can't let anyone know about this, right?"

Romano had said it almost jokingly, but Canada could pick up on the subtle threat. He nodded his head, and Romano smirked.

"Great," Romano said. "Now, can you get off of me?"

 **I didn't get to the Asians, Liechtenstein or the micronations (of the canon characters, at least). The South Americans and the other Africans remain as well. I might slip theirs in at some point. This is just to show where some of them came from. The anger they felt and how some of them had pretended even before they joined.**

 **And the southernmost point in Africa was discovered by Portugal before Spain started to send explorers (notably Columbus). So the part where Romano laments the fact that there are extra territories that they need to recruit takes place between 1488 and 1492.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Thanks to Ellanore, snowgem33, Skye Phoenix Dove, ScandinavianTrash and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 8**

A few days had passed since the conquest of Africa, and quite a few nations had noticed that something was wrong.

Several nations had noticed that the Africans were cutting off all ties from them. They weren't trading anymore, and when someone tried to contact them, there would be no answer. Though they were sure that nothing had happened to their countries, and they had even managed to contact the bosses, who were nervous but saying that everything was fine.

Well, most of them.

A few nations' bosses had reported that they hadn't heard from their nations in a few days, and Côte d'Ivoire seemed to be suffering from just about every disaster conceivable: earthquakes, fires, floods, thunderstorms, and even a few outbreaks of different epidemics. And he was one of the nations that couldn't be reached.

Most of the world grew nervous, and those that _didn't_ were the ones behind it all.

Or they were confident in thinking that it didn't affect them, but they would probably change their minds soon enough.

…

Black sighed, looking over towards White as she stared blankly at the TV screen. He supposed she was in a state of shock, and he couldn't blame her. He felt as though he was in shock as well, even though it's been a few days.

She had told him about _everyone_ that was a part of it, and he had felt himself tremble in rage. A lot of nations. And then there's the fact that they seemed to have planned this for a _long_ time. But exactly how long, he didn't know.

White jumped when someone knocked on the door, and Black instantly went to see who it was. If it was just a hawker, then he could easily take care of them.

He relaxed when he saw Namibia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

"Hey Themba," Namibia said, smiling weakly. "Is Anika here? We already checked at her home."

He nodded his head, before he allowed the other three Africans inside. They immediately went towards White, and all four of them burst into tears at the thought of the life they would now have to live.

Black sighed, closing the door. Perhaps it was a good thing that he didn't go to the meeting himself.

…

China wasn't very happy. Not at all. All of his contacts in Africa broke their connections with him. And he had a lot invested in that continent.

Not to mention, he was suspicious of North Korea, though South Korea seemed unbothered by it all. Strange how North Korea decided to come out of isolation around the same time Germany was attacked and the African nations decided that they would cut off all ties outside their continent.

He was a little worried about South Korea, wondering if he would be safe with the psychopath that was North Korea. He contemplated checking on South, knowing that a phone call wouldn't work.

Finally deciding that he would be a responsible older brother, he booked the first flight to Seoul, hoping that North wasn't terrorising South.

…

"This is nice, you know?"

South Korea looked over towards his brother. The two were lounging on South's large bed, North's room still a little cluttered from all the unpacking.

"Indeed," North said. "It's been a while since we could spend time together like this. I know it was part of the plan, but I missed you."

"Don't let Belarus hear you," South said. "You sound like you've got some incestuous love towards me."

North rolled his eyes, but he smiled softly.

"And what would Switzerland say when he hears that _you're_ the one that suggested the idea?" North asked.

"You wouldn't _dare_!"

North chuckled, and South was quick to follow.

"I hope you realise how much it pained me to pretend to hate you," North said. "And how much I _really_ wanted to hurt China and Japan for treating you the way they do."

North's expression grew dark, and South sighed.

"I hated pretending to be scared of you," South said. "And I despised acting like that hyperactive idiot. And _groping_ China and Japan, pretending that I wanted their approval… I hated it. Do you have any idea how hard I had to try not to strangle them every time?"

"I can imagine. Have you heard anything from the others?"

"Not yet. But I'm sure we'll hear if we have a job."

As though on cue, North's phone rang. He quickly answered it.

"Hello? Yes. Of course."

South listened to the onesided conversation, and judging by the smirk on North's face, they could play soon. Finally North hung up and turned to his brother.

"There are three people that we need to get a hold of," North said. "They'll give us a tactical advantage over China."

"Who?" South asked, an eager smirk on his face.

"Tibet, Macau and Hong Kong."

…

Kenya looked up when the door opened. She didn't know how long it's been, but every now and again Côte d'Ivoire's voice would ring through the intercom, making her realise what kind of pain he was in. She supposed it was the same for the others as well.

Liechtenstein entered the room, carrying a plate of food and a bottle of water.

"Will you join us?" Liechtenstein asked.

Every time one of the nations involved would bring them food, one of them would ask that. Of course, Kenya had tried to overpower Liechtenstein, since she seemed to be the frailest, but even the frailest appeared to be stronger than them.

Kenya shook her head, and Liechtenstein sighed.

"The sooner all of you join us, the sooner your friend will be released," Liechtenstein said. "Now how would he feel, considering your refusal is what's making him hurt like this?"

" _You're_ the ones hurting him!" Kenya snapped. "Let us go! If you want, we'll keep quiet about you. We won't do _anything_ to interfere with whatever it is you're doing. Just _please_ , let us go! Let _him_ go!"

Liechtenstein smiled sweetly that had the African's skin crawling.

"It's not up to _me_ to decide," Liechtenstein said, turning away. "Enjoy your meal."

Kenya burst into tears, and within a few minutes the screaming started again.

…

"I don't think your friends care about you," Romania said, looking at the panting African. "None of them surrendered yet."

Côte d'Ivoire was strapped to something similar to a rack, but while it stretched a person out the bonds would also tighten, giving them extra agony. And to make things worse, the bonds were metal cuffs that were connected with wires that allowed the cuffs to heat up, once the device was used.

"They're strong," Côte d'Ivoire said. "I noticed you're not trying to get _me_ to join you."

"You're our bargaining chip," Romania said. "And while having everyone join us willingly, more or less, would be ideal, we can afford one of you to be completely annexed by us. Because you can't deny that that's what happened. What state do you think your country is in now?"

Côte d'Ivoire whimpered, and Romania smirked. This was certainly more entertainment than he had seen in a _long_ time.

Of course, he couldn't _kill_ him, even though with enough torture it was possible. That would require that they use a different hostage, and according to the others, the Africans were certainly appearing as though they couldn't last too long. Would they care if it was a different hostage? And would they care if they figured another wasn't as close to dying?

Romania, much to his chagrin, had to heal the other's wounds after every session, allowing him to continue to toy with his hostage. Though he was a little disappointed to see his work go to waste every time. He would just need to inflict a wound that no amount of magic could heal.

"Alright then," Romania said, going closer in order to turn the microphone on, "shall we start?"

…

"I can't take it anymore!" Denmark shouted.

The rest of the Nordics watched him curiously. They noticed that he was standing so that he was facing the south. Towards Germany.

"Something's going on there," Denmark said. "Something really bad. They need our help."

"Sit down," Norway said. "His boss doesn't know where he is. Same with Prussia. The humans are still safe, though. And unless we can figure out what's going on officially, we need to stay out of it."

"You don't understand!" Denmark said. "You don't share a border with him. I do! And there's a disturbance inside his country. I already called Austria and France, and they completely agree."

"What about Switzerland?" Finland asked.

"I tried his cell phone, but there wasn't an answer," Denmark said. "I then tried his boss, who said he went mountain climbing. So there's no way to tell what Switzerland is thinking about it."

"Isn't it suspicious?" Sweden asked.

"Not at all," Finland said. "Switzerland told me that he needed a break. Preferably in the Alps, where no one can bother him."

"Since when are you and Switzerland friends?" Iceland asked.

"I wouldn't say we're friends," Finland said. "We just like to go shooting together every now and again. We also invite Canada with us."

Sweden nodded his head, and Iceland looked away from the Finn, not missing the look of warning in his eyes.

"I just can't stand not knowing what's going on," Denmark said.

"Think rationally," Norway said. "There's a chance that this might be a trap. Don't do anything stupid."

"Hey, I'm going to call Peter to ask him if he and John are ready to come home," Finland said, standing up.

"Sure," Denmark said. "It might be refreshing to have the kids here. Truth is, I'm worried about them being out there while something fishy's going on."

When Finland left the room, no one saw his smirk, though Iceland had a feeling that it was there.

…

"Now, ma chére, are you _sure_ that you don't know what's going on?" France asked.

Morocco sighed, slumping in her seat.

" _No_ ," she said. "I have no idea what's going on with the rest of my continent. As soon as I felt that something was wrong, I came here. Though I don't know _why_. I'm starting to think that the Middle Eastern nations would be more accommodating."

"Non," France said. "I think most of them are in a frenzy because of what's happening in Egypt at the moment."

"I must have missed it."

"Mosques throughout his country are being burned down."

She widened her eyes, not sure what could cause something like that to happen.

"Do you know anything else?" she asked.

"Non," France said. He looked over towards the east, where Germany was located. "I have a feeling that something bad is happening."

"Join the club," Morocco sighed. "And to make matters worse, we have absolutely no clue what's going on."

…

Egypt calmly knocked on the door, knowing that he was in for a _long_ chat with the nation on the other side. It was about a minute before the door opened, revealing a surprised nation.

"Egypt," Israel said, immediately on his guard. "What do you want?"

"A chat," Egypt said. "I'm unarmed. I promise."

Israel scrutinised him for a moment before he opened the door wider to allow the other entrance. Egypt gladly took the invitation.

"I thought your continent is cutting off all ties outside," Israel said, leading Egypt to the living room. "So why are you _here_?"

"I'm sure you've heard about what's going on with my country, with everything going up in flames," Egypt said.

"Everyone around here's heard of it. In a region where most of us have the same faith, except for me, something like this doesn't go unnoticed. Though I notice you seem to be doing well. But what's going on?"

"The start of World War Three," Egypt said.

"What?"

"Something that we've been planning for centuries," Egypt said. "Well, we didn't think it would be the third. But the other two did prove to be interesting research opportunities."

"Research?! Do you have _any_ idea how many of my people died?"

"Yes. Before you were the nation, you represented the Jewish faith. And I apologise for our conflicts with each other. It was just part of a farce."

"A fa… What are you playing at?"

"But while my 'hatred' for you has been pretence, the others' weren't," Egypt continued. "And tell me, don't you want to live in a region where silly religious battles are a thing of the past?"

Israel arched an eyebrow, inviting the other to continue.

"In case it's not clear, I'm not a Muslim," Egypt said. "Never had been. But I needed to pretend to be so in order to survive. But what if everyone kept their faiths to themselves? It's better than trying to convince the _entire_ world to drop their own beliefs in order to accommodate yours."

"Get to the point."

"How would you like to live in a region where you didn't need to fear them anymore? Where you didn't need to defend yourself against so many enemies? Where you didn't have to suffer because you're a Jew?"

Israel stared at him for a moment.

"What's in it for you?" Israel asked.

"It's what's been promised to me hundreds of years ago," Egypt said. "I want to return my mother's legacy. You should know what you were like two thousand years ago, and what Egypt was like. And what happened to our countries? _Them_. I want to see them swallowed by the sand. Make them suffer the way _our_ countries had suffered. They all believe those lies. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria… Lies. They had hurt me, in ways that they had hurt you. I want to return the favour."

Israel was silent for a moment.

"Did you guys attack Germany?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Is he still alive?"

"Yes."

"Will he remain so?"

"We'd have no use for him once the partitions are over with."

"So nations _will_ die. I still need to repay him for everything that happened in World War Two. Personally."

"He's in Vatican, along with Prussia."

Israel twisted his face when he heard where they were.

"The Catholic Church, as well as their influence, was part of our act. Vatican doesn't really have a religion. None of our group has one."

"A group of nonbelievers, some pretending to be overly religious," Israel stated. "How'd you manage it without starting to believe it?"

"The same way we made people believe that our masks were our personalities."

Israel looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What happened to South Africa?" he asked.

"It was a peaceful takeover of most of the continent," Egypt said. "She's safe. Completely. I'm guessing you want to rekindle your relationship?"

Israel blushed and averted his eyes.

"Will she hate me if I join you?" Israel asked.

"You can pretend that you were forced into it," Egypt said. "Unless you refuse, in which case I _will_ force you into it."

"Oh, and now you're threatening me?"

"I'm not threatening. I'm warning."

Israel stared at him for a moment.

"How do you plan on dealing with America?" Israel asked. "You know what he's like when there's a war, especially in our part of the world."

"He's going to be busy dealing with a war on three fronts," Egypt said, smirking. "From the north, from the south, and from within. America won't be a problem."

"And Russia?"

"We have a few nations chosen specifically for him."

"England?"

"He's going to be having local trouble as well."

Israel mulled it over.

"You know that the G7 is the biggest threat to you, right?" Israel asked.

"I already explained that we have a plan for America and England," Egypt said. "And Germany's out of the picture. Japan will have his own problems soon enough, what with three nations gunning for him. France will also be having some difficulties with an old face. And Italy and Canada are on our side."

"I see. The G13?"

"Russia will be dealt with. South Africa and Brazil have been annexed. China will be having difficulties soon. And Mexico joined us recently as well."

"The…"

"We have plans for _everyone_. No one is left unaccounted for. We know who to approach for a friendly alliance, who to annex, who to conquer, and who to destroy. Now are you in or not?"

"Fine," Israel sad. "But no harm shall come to South Africa."

"Very well. Deal."

…

"Is there anything for me to do?" India asked on the phone.

"Nothing for the moment," San Marino said. "Why don't you spend some time with your lover?"

"I can't. He's on a mission."

"Oh. Oh yeah. Um, you can always help out the Koreas. They're going to annex Hong Kong, Macau and Tibet."

India smirked.

"I'll take care of Tibet," India said. "The 'Hindu' and the Buddhist. This should be interesting."

…

America felt as though he was going out of his mind. Something was going on in Alaska, Nevada, and pretty much all of the former Confederate states. And he didn't know what was causing it.

There have been many acts of violence, and the KKK seemed to be highly active recently. And many of his people were discussing breaking away from him.

It left him paranoid, feeling as though he was falling apart, and he feared another incident like the Civil War.

And to make things more suspicious, Mexican soldiers have been seen in Texas, and Canadians in Alaska. He had a feeling that whatever was going on involved his two neighbours.

He debated for a while, before deciding that he would confront Canada about it first. Canada was easier to deal with than Mexico, and he was a weakling, in America's opinion. He'd have his dear brother saying 'sorry' and backing off soon enough.

And then he would need to confront Mexico, and for that he might need some heavy artillery.

No one tries to attack America and gets away with it.

 **So a friend of mine suggested the ship of IsraelXSouth Africa. Since he does a lot of research on anything that goes on in a war for fun, I'm going with it, considering he gave me a few ideas. And ignoring another friend who ships EgyptXSouth Africa. And I** _ **tried**_ **to explain to her that a lot of South Africa OCs have him/her being Egypt's cousin… She said that incest is allowed in certain countries.**

 **And if it seems as though I'm attacking religion, I'm sorry. It's just that I've seen far too many incidents where religion is bent and twisted to fit someone's agenda, and is often used for propaganda. And I've seen a lot of cases where religions meant to spread love are spreading hate. Point is, religion is often used as a weapon, like how Egypt is using it to recruit Israel.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Thanks to ScandinavianTrash, nakua, Abc, Viofan238, snowgem33, TrefleV, topaz3, Cardfighter By Maple, pastaaddict, Skye Phoenix Dove, Voxnihili BLOCK and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 9**

Algeria was rocking herself back and forth, Côte d'Ivoire's screams resonating through her entire being. She couldn't take it anymore. It was too much. Too much.

Her head snapped up when the door opened, and she launched herself at the nation on the other end, who caught her easily.

" _Please_ ," she said. "Make it stop. I… I'll join you, just… _please_. Stop hurting him."

Switzerland blinked in surprise, before he smirked.

"Of course," he said, standing aside so that she could leave the room. "There's just a contract you need to sign first, but we still need to wait for the others to join as well. If you want, I can send word that he could give Côte d'Ivoire a little break."

Algeria swallowed before nodding. She felt bad that she was the first to cave, but she couldn't take the pained screaming anymore. It _needed_ to stop.

And she knew that she wouldn't have to listen to it anymore.

…

Italy and Poland had gone to Vatican, which was their base of operations. It was also a part of Italy, so he felt completely comfortable around there.

The two were lounging on a couch, Italy's arms wrapped around Poland. If anyone were looking at them, they wouldn't be able to say that those two were the leaders of the group that was starting World War Three.

"How should we deal with the Baltics?" Poland asked, and Italy tensed. Poland looked up at Italy, a playful smile on his face. "Aw, you're not still jealous of Lithuania, are you?"

"It doesn't help that you _still_ cling to him whenever you see him," Italy spat.

"But they might prove useful against Russia. They know everything about him, and they certainly have enough reason to want to see his downfall. And they're easily persuaded to join us."

"The 'easily persuaded' part is what bothers me the most. They're snivelling cowards that would betray us the moment they see someone they think would be stronger than us. Especially Russia."

"And if we convince them that _we're_ stronger?"

Italy looked at Poland blankly, and Poland sighed, a small smile on his face.

"Looks like the best course of action would be to kill them then," Poland said. "Not that I mind. I could use the extra landmass."

Poland crawled up until his lips were hovering over Italy's.

"Is that what you want?" Poland asked.

"The fewer nations we have to control, the easier it will be," Italy said. "We already have most of a continent under our control. And we're a substantial amount of European nations. We don't need any more."

Poland smirked, before he closed the distance between their lips. Italy pressed back, kissing his lover properly for what seemed like the first time in forever.

"Gah! Really?"

The two separated, annoyed, as Italy turned to look at the new arrival.

"What do you want, Carlino?" Italy asked.

San Marino shook his head, a look of disgust on his face.

"Switzerland called to report that Algeria has surrendered," San Marino said.

"Excellent," Poland said. "The first of our little strays. Is that all?"

"Egypt also reported that Israel has agreed to join us, on condition that South Africa remains safe."

"You were right," Italy said, glancing at Poland. "There _was_ something there."

"Really, can't you two get a room or something, a little less _public_?" San Marino asked. "Can you imagine if Angelo was the one to walk in on you?"

"Remember, he was only pretending," Italy said. "Making the Catholic faith homophobic in order to control nations and humans. The nations especially. It never bothered France, but Spain and Portugal never dared act on their romantic feelings for another nation, since that would be a sin, don't you think?"

"I _get_ it, but still…"

"Have you ever walked in on Marcello before? They were doing something a lot more dangerous than kissing."

San Marino shuddered.

"India also called," San Marino said. "He asked if there was anything he could do. I directed him towards Tibet, and have already informed the Koreas."

"Fine," Italy said. "At least he's keeping busy. Do you think we should call the South Americans?"

"It'll certainly make their day," San Marino said. "Lovino's been asking for them. He says that Spain has been driving him insane. Oh, and apparently Portugal is still there."

"Two birds with one stone," Poland said. "Alright then. Let's go make the South Americans happy. And the _North_ Americans?"

"Canada and Mexico have started causing a riot at the borders, while Molossia and Confederacy have started attacking America from within. Molossia said that he could _feel_ America is already suspicious."

"He's paranoid, certainly," Poland said. "So he'll try to stop them, right?"

"Most likely."

"And he'll make a blunder, of course. He underestimates Canada, and Molossia has _us_ to back him up. As for Mexico and Confederacy, let's hope they know how to handle him."

"Anything else to report?" Italy asked.

"Not at the moment," San Marino said.

"Good. Then leave us alone, fratello. We were busy with something."

San Marino scoffed and turned away.

"If it wasn't for that Bond…" he muttered.

…

Peru smirked, his cell phone pressed against his ear.

"Gracias," he said darkly. "We'll meet up with Mexico first, and then we'll get right on it."

He hung up, and turned to face his comrades.

"That was San Marino," he said. "We get to deal with España."

"Finally!" Argentina said, jumping to her feet. "Now we get to play."

Brazil fidgeted uncomfortably, not wanting to take part in anything involving the other South American nations. Peru came over and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry," he said. "We're not expecting you to come along. This is revenge, after all, and only those that desire it may come along. Besides, you _like_ Portugal."

"What does he have to do with this?" Brazil asked weakly.

"Didn't you hear? Portugal is over at Spain's place. He wanted to make sure his idiot younger brother doesn't get himself into trouble. We can deal with him as well."

"What? No!"

"Don't worry. We won't hurt him. We like him too. But one has to wonder why he didn't think to make sure _you're_ alright."

Brazil swallowed nervously and avoided everyone's eyes.

"Because as far as he's aware, the problems are in Europe and Africa, after the attack on Germany and the Africans' withdrawal from international relations. He doesn't think that something's wrong over here."

"Are you sure?" Venezuela asked, a smirk on his face.

Brazil closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter," Chile said. "You're staying behind. But we'll be sure to ask about it when we see him."

Argentina gave Brazil a mocking kiss on the head, similar to what a parent would do to their child.

"Be good," she said mockingly, as they all proceeded to leave.

When they were gone, Brazil curled up into a ball and began to softly cry over his situation, and the fate that might befall his former caretaker and father-figure.

…

Mexico let out a giggle when she heard what she was being told through the phone.

"Then I suppose I'll see you soon," she said, hanging up the phone.

The South Americans would arrive at her airport, and then they would travel together to Spain. And while they were travelling, she could confront them about not telling her about what they were scheming.

She quickly called her general to withdraw her soldiers from the border, before getting in contact with a few of her cartels. If America confronted her about the disturbance at the border, she could play it off as the military and the cartels being at odds with each other, which _unfortunately_ broke through past America's borders.

Knowing America, he would buy it, as long as she wasn't there when he arrived to confront her. If he arrived after she left, she could use the alibi that she wasn't in her country when it all started to happen.

Hopefully he would buy it and didn't check her travel history. That could pose a problem.

She knew full well that they would need to tread carefully around America. He could cause a lot of problems if he wasn't dealt with accordingly.

…

Romano smirked as he pocketed his phone. He had just been informed that the South Americans would be making their way to Spain in order to deal with said nation.

Romano couldn't wait to watch the show. He didn't _completely_ hate Spain, like the South Americans did, but there was no love there either. He was constantly annoyed by the other's cheerful attitude, and his fawning over him. His annoyance with the other was what made it so easy to agree to the South Americans' request.

He checked his watch, groaning when he realised that it would take them a few hours to arrive. He would need to find a way to keep himself entertained.

"What's going on with you?"

Romano jumped, whirling around to face the speaker.

"What are you talking about, bastard?" Romano spat.

"You're a lot quieter than usual," Portugal said. "And you're swearing a lot less than normal. You also look like you're waiting for something. Or someone."

"It's your damn imagination. Why are you still here?"

"Because something's happening in the world. I want to make sure my brother doesn't get into trouble. I also want to protect anyone that's stupid enough to attack him and trigger his conquistador side."

Yet another reason why Romano would only be watching, and not helping the South Americans. He knew full well what Spain's dark, bloodthirsty side was like. The South Americans did too. And the South Americans could be just as bloodthirsty and brutal as Spain could be, perhaps even more so because they inherited it from both Spain and their native ancestors. That would probably help Mexico as well. The only reason why the South Americans hadn't attacked Spain earlier was because they were always younger and smaller, and by the time they were old enough the world had changed, and it would have been suspicious if they had released the same amount of anger and brutality that they had clung to.

Bloody revolutions? They had no idea…

"No one's stupid enough to try that," Romano said. "And besides, aren't there _other_ nations to worry about? Have you gotten in touch with that African you've been trying to call?"

Portugal narrowed his eyes.

"You seem completely unbothered," Portugal said.

"Hey, in case you hadn't noticed, there aren't a lot of nations I have contact with," Romano said. "I don't care about that many nations."

"And if someone were to attack your brother?"

Romano smirked.

"I'd like to meet the bastard dumb enough to do that," he said.

"Are _you_ going to protect your brother?"

"I don't need to. Never underestimate Italy."

…

China sighed, before he knocked on Korea's door. After a while of no one answering he knocked again, and his worry grew. Did North do something to hurt South?

He finally withdrew his cell phone, calling the other nation.

"Da-ze, what's up aniki?" South Korea's hyperactive voice came through the phone.

"Where are you?" China demanded. "I flew all the way to Seoul, and…"

"Oh, sorry. I'm with Hyung. The two of us are touring our country together. Wow, I can't believe I said that. It's been so long. Our country, our country…"

"Yong Soo!" China hissed. "How long before you're back?"

"Um, I don't know. Hard to tell. Why don't you stay a day or two in a hotel? I promise I'll pay any expense. Have fun in my capital."

"Yong…" China began, before he was cut off.

Well, he _supposed_ that he could have a few days off. It would be a quick vacation, and South Korea would be a lot more pleasant without the personification annoying him.

Deciding that he would take the other up on his offer, he turned around and took a cab to the nearest hotel.

…

South Korea sighed as he put the phone away.

"China, I presume?" North asked.

"Yeah," South said. "Looks like we _just_ passed each other. He was standing on our front porch."

"Then it's a good thing we came as soon as we did," North said. "Now, where's India?"

The two of them were in the Beijing airport, waiting for India before the three of them would go their separate ways. They just had one last thing to discuss.

"Are you sure China wouldn't be able to trace our plane?" North asked.

"I've been testing it out for years," South said. "As long as we fly with our private plane, no nation can trace our moves. Airports are unwilling to divulge the identities of nations who use them to travel, especially if the nation arrives in a private plane. They're not even willing to tell their own nation. They burn the records. The idea's been planted in their heads a _long_ time ago that when a nation arrives by private plane, then it's on important business."

"No kidding," North said.

They ignored the humans walking around them, just like how the humans ignored them. As nations, they had the ability to go unnoticed by a general populace when they desired. It proved especially helpful when a nation was infiltrating another's land. Of course, only a fellow nation could identify them.

Like India.

"Were you waiting long?" India asked as soon as he was close enough.

"Not really," South said, and North rolled his eyes.

"Is there anyone you're particularly interested in?" North asked.

"Tibet," India said. "I think it will be an _interesting_ meeting, to say the least."

"And I'll go after Hong Kong," South said. "He's more familiar with me. That leaves Macau to you."

"I see," North said. "There's no need for the contracts. We're _taking_ them, just so we're clear. And if they give us difficulty, we'll be sure to deal with them."

"And where will we be keeping them?" India asked.

"Vatican, of course. It _is_ our base of operations, and the last place anyone would look. Besides, my place is too obvious, and we can't go to South with China being there…"

"China's in your country?" India asked South.

"Not the point. I think it would be safer to take them to the Vatican. Shall we meet up here tomorrow then?"

"Of course," India said. "Good luck, my friends."

"For you too," South said.

…

The Southern African nations were all gathered in Black's house. He didn't understand why they _all_ had to come, just that they all needed comfort somehow. Which again brought up the question of why they _all_ had to come to _his_ house. He was the former Zulu Empire. He didn't _do_ comfort.

"San Marino called," Mozambique informed them. "He said that Brazil had joined them, though it was less than willing as well."

"Dammit," White hissed, bowing her head. "They're taking everyone. Why can't we stop them?"

Black sighed, returning to the room from the kitchen, a trey full of steaming coffee mugs in his hands.

"Do you know anything more about what the contract has to say?" Black asked. "Perhaps we can find a loophole."

"It's a contract made with magic," Zimbabwe said. "It has to be one hell of a loophole."

"I read through everything a few times," Namibia said. "It's pretty straightforward. Whoever signs the contract offer themselves in subservience. They are also not allowed to speak about it to anyone that _didn't_ sign the contract. The contract won't allow it."

"Got to hand it to them," Botswana said, "Uh… They were thorough."

He looked confused for a moment, though none of them noticed this.

"They're making sure that no one can betray them," White sighed. "Italy and Poland, and from what I can tell _everyone_ … They've been planning this a long time. I think it's safe to assume that they've been using past wars as research. Luckily I wasn't _too_ active in the World Wars."

Unnoticed by everyone, Botswana had been doing what could only be described as mouth exercises, a puzzled frown on his face.

"Um, guys," he said. "I can't say any of their names."

"You mean Italy and the others?" White asked.

"Exactly."

"It must be your imagination," Zimbabwe said. "How could you not say…"

His eyes widened, and he tried to force his voice out, though the voice and the words he was forming didn't seem to want to cooperate with each other.

"This is insane," Mozambique said. "Why can't… I can't say their names either. What's going on?"

"We can't speak about it before people that aren't involved," Namibia said, her eyes widening in realisation, as she looked over towards Black. " _You_ never signed those contracts. _You're_ not involved."

"But _White_ signed them," Black said.

"But _you_ didn't," White said, a small smile on her face. "I signed it as 'South Africa', but it's _my_ handwriting, not _yours_. They were trying to get _us_ on board, not our governments. And they _didn't_ get you."

"Look, I don't see how this matters," Black said. "I mean, we've both signed a bunch of documents on behalf of _both_ of us before…"

"But never something like this. Black, _you're_ free. You're not bound to any contract. And because we represent the same country, I can speak about what's happening to you, while no one else can. I can say their names – Italy, Poland – _they_ can't."

"And what are you going to do with this revelation?"

"Report everything to England," White said. "He's still got a lot of influence, and he's not involved in this at all. You can go and report to him. I can tell you anything that's happening on our end, and you can repeat what I say to England. Maybe we can stop more nations from being taken."

"Or things could end up going up in smoke. White, this is crazy. What if you're wrong?"

"There's nothing for _you_ to lose," White said. "If it turns out we're incorrect, then you _still_ haven't signed the contract. And you can at least find shelter with England. Deal?"

He sighed, closing his eyes as he mulled things over.

"Fine," he said. "Deal."

 **The ending might not have gone as planned. I wanted the Tibet, Macau and Hong Kong scenes for next chapter, and maybe also the Spain scene.**

 **From the moment I had two South Africas, I've been planning for one of them to act as whistle blower. And they're perfect, considering Italy's group would have thought about any geographical divides separating nations, but not racial divides, especially if one representative hadn't been seen in around a hundred years. Just one flaw they're not going to forgive. And trust me, things will be getting darker soon.**

 **Also, how do you guys feel about Romania/Romano? Not for this story, but one of my other fanfics. A Different Kind of Vampire is already written past the first ten chapters, and it's so far the easiest thing for me to write for some strange reason. But with the poll I had last year, it was one of the less popular stories. So, should I start posting it? Game of Mirrors is almost finished (perhaps two or three more chapters, I don't know) and I kind of want something in its place, and this is the only one that qualifies at the moment.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Thanks to Skye Phienix Dove, Nyx Shadowsong, Lovesbugsalot, snowgem33, SilverStarJones, Cardfighter By Maple, pastaaddict and three anons for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 10**

India calmly walked through Tibet. He was on his way to the temple the nation of Tibet called his home. He still didn't understand why he insisted on living there, but figured that it had to do with the whole 'one with the universe' thing.

He would need to ask Tibet later, after the two of them were far from this very country.

He made his way up the temple steps, noting how tranquil the country was, and knowing that it would most likely not be that way for much longer. But he had business to take care of, and the sooner he had his schedule clear and the other had finished his own mission, the sooner he could spend some time with his lover. And of course, taking Tibet brought him one step closer to his revenge.

He stepped through the doors, taking a moment to admire the architecture before he went towards the inner sanctum, where he knew the nation was most likely to be. Sure enough, Tibet was there, meditating, as expected.

The other didn't turn to face him, but India knew that the other was aware of his presence.

"So you finally decided to show your true self, after all these years," Tibet said.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," India said.

"I remember how you used to be. Filled with so much anger and hatred, directed at the world. Then the storm inside you seemed to calm, as though something else took its place. What was it?"

"Probably the promise of vengeance, so kindly offered to me."

"I see. And in your dark heart, somehow love had found its way. The degree of love is rare among nations, but not _so_ rare, as I had noticed."

"Did you now?"

Tibet stood, and finally turned to face him.

"What do you want with me?" Tibet asked.

"Well, I would _kindly_ ask that you come with me," India said. "No offence, but you're one step to taking down China."

"Have you seen our relationship the last few years?"

"Your land. It's in a very convenient location."

Tibet stared at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing by a tiny fraction.

"If China learns of it, he will not hesitate to take my land back from you," Tibet said.

"He won't dare," India said. "He doesn't hate you enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, we've got a few things in place that would make sure that if someone tries to take your land from us, then you will die, as a nation and as a human. And China doesn't hate you enough to allow such a fate to befall you."

Tibet's eyes widened, and he took a nervous step back. India smirked, knowing that he had pushed the right button.

"You're… you're serious, aren't you?" Tibet asked.

"Correct," India said. "Now, the question is whether or not you'll come quietly. If not, well… Hey, have you heard about the state Côte d'Ivoire is in? It's like his country just can't get a break. It's one natural disaster after the other. You wouldn't do that to your own people, now would you?"

India had a victorious smirk on his face as he walked back the way he had come, Tibet walking next to him, the monk fidgeting nervously. He wondered if the two Koreas had things this easy.

…

Hong Kong opened the door for South Korea, arching an eyebrow when he saw the other's bright smile.

"Hi!" Korea greeted. "Can I come in?"

Hong Kong stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

"No," he said, before he tried to slam the door in the other's face.

The keyword was 'tried', because Korea blocked the door with a strength Hong Kong didn't know he possessed. Korea forced the door open again and walked inside the house.

"What exactly are you doing?" Hong Kong asked, backing up.

Suddenly Korea's smile seemed to twist. It wasn't a bright smile anymore. The one they were used to. Now, it seemed like a cruel and sadistic grin, similar to what Japan had sometimes worn in the Second World War.

That made Hong Kong suddenly realise that something was _very_ wrong.

"Did North influence you?" Hong Kong asked. "Did he get in your head?"

"Nope," Korea said. "You see, the both of us have been likeminded for centuries. We've just been good at hiding it. And when the day came that someone had actually seen past our acts, we were worried, until they made us an offer we couldn't refuse."

"And that would be?"

"Control over the entire Eastern Asia."

Hong Kong's eyes widened.

"Who promised you that?" Hong Kong asked.

"It doesn't matter," Korea said. "You're going to meet them very soon anyway."

Hong Kong decided to try to run, but Korea tackled him and pinned him to the ground before he could get far. He tried to struggle, but once again, Korea seemed to have a strength the younger never knew he had. Finally he stilled, and he looked up at Korea with wide eyes.

"What are you going to do to me?" Hong Kong asked.

Korea smirked.

"You're going to give us an advantage over China," Korea said. "Don't worry. For that, we need you alive."

Hong Kong's jaw dropped when he heard Korea say China's name. He didn't think he'd ever heard it before from the other's mouth. And perhaps it was for good reason. The way Korea said it was cold and full of hate. Nothing at all like how he usually was around China.

Hong Kong's thoughts were cut off when he was abruptly pulled to his feet. Korea was pushing him towards the door, and Hong Kong knew that his people wouldn't allow this to continue.

"If you make a scene," Korea said, "or make things difficult for me in any way, I'll call Hyung and tell him to be extra rough with Macau."

Hong Kong gasped, knowing that Korea was serious. North Korea was in Macau, and his brother would get hurt if Hong Kong made it difficult for South Korea.

So Hong Kong complied, allowing Korea to guide him away while making it seem inconspicuous to the human population of Hong Kong. Korea made it look as though Hong Kong wasn't being dragged, and Korea had a bright smile on his face again, not at all looking like someone kidnapping another person.

And that scared Hong Kong more than anything. The fact that he could slip a mask on his face so easily.

…

Macau's eyes widened when he saw North Korea on the other side of his door. The other Asian smirked, before inviting himself inside. Macau swallowed nervously before he closed the door.

"What are you doing here?" Macau asked. "Where's South?"

"Yong is fine, don't worry about it," North said. "And I'm here for you."

"What?"

"You're to accompany me. If you don't, I will call Yong to tell him to make things unpleasant for Hong Kong. And another one of our allies could make things difficult for Portugal. So, are you going to come quietly, or will you be responsible for two nations' pain?"

Macau shook his head slowly, tears stinging his eyes.

"Why?" Macau asked.

"Let's just say, it's all part of our master plan," North said. "Now, are you going to come quietly, or are we going to have problems?"

Macau was still by the door, and so in an instant he pulled it open and made a run for it. But he couldn't get farther than a few steps before North tackled him, clamping a hand on his mouth at the exact moment he tried to call for help.

"You get to have a choice," North said. "Portugal or Hong Kong? Or would you prefer China? He's in Seoul. It would be _easy_ to arrange an… accident. It won't kill him, but it _will_ hurt him really, _really_ bad. Well?"

Macau let out a sob, and North took that as his cue to remove his hand. The bespectacled nation had to calm himself before he spoke.

"Don't hurt any of them," Macau said.

"Then will you come willingly?" North asked.

"Yes! Just, _please_ , don't hurt them."

"That's all I needed to hear. Come on. The others are waiting."

…

Canada could feel his entire being tensing as his front door was slammed open, his eyes twitching in annoyance. Kumajiro lazily glanced towards him.

"Want me to take care of him for you?" the bear asked.

"No, it's alright," Canada said, standing up from the couch.

A moment later America rushed in. Oh, looks like this time it was at least somewhat serious.

"Al?" Canada asked, his voice returning to his old whisper. "What's wrong?"

"Alaska," America said, walking over to him. "There's unrest in Alaska, and _your_ soldiers are involved."

"O-oh, I was meaning to talk to you about that," Canada said, smiling sheepishly. "There was a murder – very brutal – in my country recently, and the murderer hopped the border to Alaska. I think the unrest is because they told the people that the murderer is on the loose. And the reason why my soldiers are the ones involved is because the murderer was very high up in the military, so regular police isn't going to cut it. I wanted to tell you earlier, but then a couple of things happened and I completely forgot about it. I'm sorry."

Canada could see that America looked both confused and conflicted, but finally America sighed.

"Alright, just… when something this important happens again, ask my permission first," America said. "So, you say it was brutal?"

"Yeah. My people are _still_ busy trying to identify all the corpses. Makes it difficult if they've been ripped to shreds."

America winced, and Canada knew that he didn't want more details.

"Fine," America said. "I'll just… go. I need to talk to Mexico too."

"O-okay. Goodbye."

He saw America out, and as soon as the other was out his face twisted into its relaxed position, which kind of resembled Netherlands's expression.

"Good thing I actually had bodies arranged, just in case," Canada said.

Yes, three people had died. American spies. The CIA, in fact. Canada had left out that part.

He had a different connection to his country than America had with his. They all did. And all of them knew who the people were that didn't belong, especially spies. They lived in an age of paranoia, and the paranoia was increasing due to their actions. But that was part of the plan as well.

He was startled when his phone rang, and he hurried to answer it, smirking when he saw the number displayed.

"Yes San Marino. I was actually planning to call you. America's already suspicious about what's going on, and he just came to confront me about it. I led him off the trail. He's going to Mexico."

"Good. And Mexico should be on her way to Spain right about now. So America would _just_ miss her."

"And he'll ask her boss about what's going on instead. But he doesn't know anything about military action."

"We should have gotten to her sooner. Her people would be subdued right about now."

"Lovino tried his best. Speaking of, what's everyone else doing?"

…

Hong Kong followed behind South Korea, trying to ignore the people in the airport. It was bad enough that he had been forced on a plane to China's place. And now he had to meet up with the others, apparently.

He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw Tibet, _trying_ not to look nervous as he sat next to India, who on the contrary looked more than pleased. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Macau, looking solemn.

"You too?" Macau asked.

Hong Kong looked down and nodded.

"Come on," North Korea said. "The sooner we get on the plane, the sooner we can leave."

"Looks like India is more excited than anyone," South Korea pointed out, dragging Hong Kong behind him.

"Yeah, well can you blame him? He's getting closer to his lover."

Now _that_ got Hong Kong's attention. They had lovers?

…

Spain answered the door to see several of his former colonies standing on the other side. He smiled, happy to see the younger nations and glad that they appeared to be alright.

"Hola!" he said. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"We just wanted to see you," Argentina said, smiling brightly. "Is that a crime?"

"Oh, well… Why don't you come in?"

As Spain moved aside to let them in, he didn't notice the smirks on their faces. If he had, he would have gone for his axe.

They went to the living room, and Spain called Portugal and Romano, seeing as they had guests. Mexico and Argentina took a seat in the loveseat, while the men decided they would remain standing.

"Would you like something to drink?" Spain asked, ever the generous host.

"Why not some wine?" Argentina asked. "I've been in the mood for some genuine Spanish wine."

Spain beamed before he rushed off to the kitchen to fetch glasses and a bottle or two. While he was at it, Romano and Portugal arrived.

"Ola," Portugal greeted. "Strange of you all to come unannounced."

"We called earlier," Chile said. "We spoke to Romano."

"And I can't be bothered telling you two bastards anything," Romano said.

Portugal shrugged as Spain returned with the glasses and wine.

"Aren't you going to sit?" Spain asked, blinking when he saw the still-standing nations.

"We've been sitting for _hours_ ," Venezuela said. "Frankly, I think my butt is still numb."

"Too much information," Peru muttered.

Spain shrugged, before he started pouring the wine. When all the glasses have been poured he took one and the others followed his example. He noticed that Mexico seemed to drink the beverage rather fast, while the others merely sipped. Romano also sipped.

"So are things alright over in your part of the world?" Portugal asked. "You haven't spoken to Brazil recently, have you?"

"We just came from Brazil," Chile said. "He's fine, by the way."

Portugal smiled in relief. It was obvious that he had been starting to get worried for his previous colonies, and was glad at least one of them was alright.

"We actually came to talk to you about something," Argentina said as Spain drank some of his wine.

"Si?" he asked.

"We've been talking recently about our colony days. How you would massacre our people, and our parents' people, before taking us as your 'kids', even though you treated us like trinkets you got on your many treasure hunts. We were talking about how the one thing we've always wanted was to repay the favour. And now that Judgement Day has come, it's time."

Spain looked around. Each of them had a menacing look about them. A look that he had thought died a long time ago. The temperature had also dropped significantly. And considering all of the nations present had warm climates, that was saying something.

"You see Spain," Argentina continued, "we came to kill you."

"What?!" Portugal demanded, before he was suddenly caught in a headlock by Romano.

Spain twisted around to stare at Romano with wide eyes, seeing the relaxed smirk on the Italian's face.

"You should have treated your colonies less like pieces of land and more like people," Romano said. "Maybe then they wouldn't hate you so much."

Spain watched in horror as black ribbons suddenly appeared on Romano's left hand, and the ribbons were connected to each of the South Americans. Spain knew what those ribbons meant. Portugal did too, which was why he stopped struggling in the Italian's hold.

"How long?" Spain asked, looking at the South Americans.

"Always," Peru said, before brandishing a knife and lunging at Spain.

The others followed his example, each brandishing knives, with the exception of Argentina, who decided to use her claw-like nails instead. Spain acted fast, slamming the glass in Peru's face, earning a scream of pain, before kicking Venezuela away.

He cried out when Chile's knife caught him, and he shoved the younger towards the coffee table, which smashed under his weight. But the South American didn't seem bothered, jumping to his feet immediately.

Spain punched, kicked and shoved his way through, trying to at least get to his axe in the next room, but it was all in vain. They slashed at him, and he wondered where Argentina got her nails done, since they were like razors. He noticed that they appeared to be trying to get him to the ground, but he couldn't allow that. He knew that the moment he was on the ground would be the moment he would lose.

He cried out when a sudden pain flashed through his body that wasn't a result of what any of them were doing. He recognised that pain all too well.

"Oh good," Romano said. "The bombs have started going off."

"Bombs?!" Spain demanded, wincing as someone punched his nose.

"Si. A random bomb is going off somewhere in your country every ten seconds."

Spain could feel it. The longer the fight dragged on, the more he felt the bombs go off. This wasn't normal. This wasn't like any other battle he's ever been in. This had _nothing_ to do with conquest.

This was about destroying him. And he was afraid that they would succeed.

His fear became realised when someone kicked him in the back of his knee, causing said knee to buckle and forcing him to the ground. He was then forced onto his back. Chile and Peru pinned down his arms, Venezuela and Mexico his legs, and Argentina straddled his hips.

"You treated us like assets," Argentina said. "You were obsessed with power. And you tried to destroy our very personalities. But no más. This is the end for you, España." She brought out a large knife, and Spain widened his eyes. "Adios."

And all Spain could feel was the burning knife digging through his chest as it plunged through his heart. And the last thing he could hear was Portugal screaming in horror as his vision went dark.

At least they let him have one last drink of wine.

 **They're not** _ **quite**_ **finished with Spain yet. This is just what I could fit in the chapter. But the next will have a bit of gore.**

 **And I'll start posting A Different Kind of Vampire this Friday.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Thanks to Margaret, ScandinavianTrash, Cardfighter By Maple, SilverStarJones, snowgem33, Ariaprincess, Skye Phoenix Dove, topaz3, pastaaddict, Vanilla-Tsun and The Forgotten Traveller for reviewing.**

 **Okay, first part has a little gore. Nothing that would bump up the rating, but it's also not the last we'll see. And as for those ribbons, there will be a few clues as to what they mean over the next ten chapters or so. They're actually pretty important.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 11**

Portugal watched with wide eyes as Spain's screams died and his struggles stilled. Argentina smiled as she sliced the knife through his chest, before reaching in and removing Spain's heart. It was still beating slightly, but it was slowing down as the seconds passed.

And then, to Portugal's horror, Argentina bit into the heart and tore a chunk of it away. He watched her chew it before she swallowed, handing it to Chile, who did the same. One by one each of them had a bit of Spain's heart, with only Mexico looking a bit hesitant.

Romano released the Portuguese, but he didn't move. He was frozen in horror, unable to believe that nations would do that to each other, especially to someone that had raised them. He had seen a lot of coldblooded killings in his long life, but never before had he witnessed something like this.

He leaned against the back of the couch, his legs shaking. He _could_ run, none of them were watching him, but he knew that he wouldn't get far. And if they had committed that atrocity to Spain, then what would they do to him?

"We weren't lying," Venezuela said. "We really _did_ come from Brazil. He's our territory now. Just like you will be."

Portugal looked up towards them. They were all watching him now.

"What do you mean?" he asked, swallowing thickly.

"We're not going to kill you," Romano said, sitting on the arm of the couch, his arms crossed and a bit of blood around his mouth. "We're going to take you as a territory in our empire. You have no choice, of course. But how much you get hurt depends on how much you try to prevent it."

Portugal was taken aback. There was a lot of information there.

"Who else?" Portugal asked. "Who else have you added to your 'empire'?"

Romano smirked.

"Nearly everyone in Africa," Romano said.

Portugal's eyes widened.

"The Continent Conquest," Portugal whispered. "You… you've done it."

"Not quite," Romano said. "There are, like, ten nations left."

Portugal's breath hitched. That was farther than he thought it would be.

"You're responsible for everything," Portugal said. "Who are you working with?"

Romano smirked.

"My fratelli. Veneziano, Seborga, San Marino and Vatican. Then we have others as well."

Romano held up his right hand, and red ribbons appeared out of thin air, tied around Romano's hand. Portugal paled at the sight.

"Impossible," Portugal whispered. "How did you…? How could…?"

"We've been working for a long time," Romano said. "We've done a lot of planning. And we're going to _take_ what and who we want. And we want you."

Portugal was silent for a moment.

"Why do you want me?" Portugal asked.

Romano's smirk widened.

" _You_ were the one that opened the gate to the New World," Romano said. "Southern Africa, where the riches are abundant. Spain followed your lead and we got the Americas. Some of our most valuable allies were discovered thanks to you. And while Spain was adding more land, neglecting his colonies as people, _you_ were the one that took care of their _human_ needs, while trying not to overstep your boundaries. Anyone we don't have… _you'll_ make it easier to get them. Not to mention, you are close friends with England. And let's not forget about those small flings with Netherlands and China. Especially China."

"You want to use me to get to them," Portugal said.

"You're catching on. Now, are you going to come quietly, or are we going to have problems?"

Portugal's eyes drifted to Spain's corpse, and he felt a cold wave wash over him. He didn't want the same fate to befall him. But the alternative would be to submit to them. To become a servant, after so many years of being independent, and even after having his own empire, was a blow he didn't think he could handle.

So he made the choice to get away, and he started to run, but while his attention had been focused on Romano, Venezuela and Chile had crept behind Portugal to block the one door, while Argentina and Peru had moved to the other door. Venezuela and Chile caught Portugal as he was running, and the European struggled for a moment before he slumped, feeling how strong the other two were and accepting that they were stronger.

"Do you really want to do it the hard way?" Venezuela asked.

Portugal didn't answer, just chuckled wryly as the first tears fell.

"We really don't want to hurt _you_ , uncle," Chile said. "But if you give us no other choice, then we _will_ do it without a second thought."

Portugal slumped further, until he was sitting on the ground. The younger two released him, looming over him, prepared in case he tried to run away again.

"Take your time," Romano said. "We have all the time in the world. Just keep in mind that we have Brazil, the PALOP nations, and now Macau."

Portugal stared at Romano with horror.

"When did…?" Portugal asked.

"Macau is a recent addition," Romano said. "He's not under our control yet, but in our possession. Nothing's stopping us from hurting him."

Portugal looked down, assessing his entire situation. No matter how he sliced it, there was nothing he could do. He would be taken as one of their territories, and there was nothing he could do about it. And whether or not he came quietly determined how many nations, including himself, got hurt. And he couldn't do that to his former charges.

He could _feel_ Romano smirking, sensing the other European's resolve crumbling. Finally, Portugal looked up at Romano, his face stained with tears, and he averted his gaze as he nodded. Romano chuckled.

"Welcome to Amodi," Romano said. "You made the smart choice."

The smart choice, but not the right choice. No one needed to tell Portugal that.

…

Romania clicked his pocket watch shut, before turning back to his target.

"I've given you enough of a respite," Romania said. "Now, we're going back to work."

Côte d'Ivoire looked at him weakly.

"Why did you give me that kindness in the first place?" Côte d'Ivoire asked. "It doesn't seem like something you would do without a good reason."

"You're right," Romania said, smirking. "Algeria crumbled. She joined us, all because she couldn't stand your screaming anymore. They've agreed, for her sake, to grant you a brief respite. They should have consulted me first, but no matter. You've had enough of a break, and…"

Romania tensed, sensing someone entering through the gates, going towards his front door.

"Looks like I have company," Romania said. "You're lucky. You get even more of a respite."

The European left the room, and the African sagged in relief.

He went up the stairs, from the subbasement to the actual basement, and once he reached the ground floor he locked the basement door behind him, just as someone knocked on the front door. Romania scowled, before he smoothed his face into his old mask. He smoothed his face, before giving himself the mischievous twinkle in his eye that he was known for. He made sure that he looked like the Romania that the world knew, and not the Romania that he truly was.

He walked to the door, composing himself and making sure that there wasn't a trace of blood on his clothes. Finally, he opened the door to see his guest.

His eyes widened when he saw Moldova standing on the other side, and the younger gave him a toothy smile.

"Salut, frate mai mare," Moldova said.

"Alexandru," Romania said. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you." Moldova's smile fell. "Don't you want me here?"

"Um… No, it's not that at all. You just… surprised me. Does Russia know you're here?"

"Nu. I just wanted to see _you_."

And Moldova threw his arms around Romania, and the older nation hesitated before hugging back.

"How long are you staying?" Romania asked.

"A few days," Moldova said, before he invited himself inside.

Romania remained still for a moment as Moldova went to his living room, before taking out his phone and calling Italy.

"We have a problem," he snarled in their creole.

…

Germany and Prussia looked up when they heard the door open, footsteps echoing as they came nearer. They could identify two sets of footsteps, but they had no idea who it could be.

Finally two figures came into view, and they could immediately recognise one of them, but they weren't sure who the other was. He _did_ look familiar, and they knew that he was a nation. They just didn't know _who_.

"Israel," Germany said. "How long have you been part of this?"

"A day," the unknown nation said. "Hearing that we have you in our custody, and that you're alive but helpless, really helped."

"And who the hell are _you_?" Prussia demanded.

The other chuckled, and even Israel looked amused.

"I don't think many nations know what you look like without the keffiyeh, Egypt," Israel said.

"Egypt?" Germany repeated. He looked between the two Middle Eastern nations. "How are you two allies? I thought…"

"Everyone in Amodi wears a mask," Egypt said. "Every little thing our countries have done for centuries was planned. Every alliance, every war… Every victory and every loss. We'd even pretend that we hate each other to fool the world."

"Why go through all the trouble?" Germany demanded.

"We've learned from every single war," Egypt said. "We know the price of victory and defeat. We know human nature, as well as the nature of nations. We know more secrets about nations than anyone else. And all by pretending to be people we're not. But like my keffiyeh, our masks will be gone, forever. You're simply the first to see our true selves."

"What kind of secrets?" Prussia asked.

"A country, as a whole, can be conquered by getting the nation's personification to join you, no matter if it was willing or not. The people are also more willing if the nation has had an idea in their head for a long time. It grows the more time has passed, especially if several generations are involved. And we also know all the ways in which a nation can be killed. We've already demonstrated it to someone, and if you have a demonstration, make sure to have witnesses."

"Who?" Germany asked. "Who did you kill?"

Egypt's eyes drifted to Prussia, and he smirked.

"Spain."

Prussia's eyes widened, and he grew exceptionally pale. Germany was just as horrified as Prussia was.

"How could you?" Germany asked.

"We've promised our South American allies the chance to kill him," Egypt said. "They've been waiting for centuries. And we also managed to get Portugal out of the deal." Egypt then looked towards Israel, who looked thoughtful. "But you said you wanted to repay them for everything that happened in World War Two. The Holocaust."

Israel snapped out of his thoughts, and there was a dark glint in his eyes. Egypt smirked, walking towards the door.

"Have fun," Egypt said.

Israel turned to the German brothers, and they both realised that there was another secret that Egypt didn't reveal to them. A secret that allowed other nations to join them, and no matter how much they _would_ have protested, they had no problems with following orders.

Because there was a sadistic gleam in Israel's eyes that neither German had ever seen before, and they knew that, since he wasn't part of Italy's group from the beginning, he wouldn't have a mask. So the sadistic gleam would be something completely new. But how did they instil it in another nation?

They didn't have long to ponder it, before Israel advanced on them.

…

Italy listened to Romania on the other end of the line, his mind racing as he listened to the other. He knew that Romania wouldn't harm Moldova. He was one of the two that Romania cared about. So Romania's usual strategy wouldn't work.

"He said he's there for a few days," Italy said. "So entertain him, make sure he doesn't find Ivory Coast, and it'll all be over in a few days."

"And what about Ivory Coast?" Romania asked. "He's been granted a reprieve in celebration of Algeria joining. Any longer, and we might lose the chance to get more of the Africans."

Italy bit his lip as he thought about it.

"They'll certainly be suspicious," Italy said. "They'll think the worst. It _could_ work in our advantage. And if you need to, wait for Moldova to be asleep before you go back to your job."

Italy looked up when he saw Egypt coming closer, and he also saw Poland growing impatient.

"And if Moldova finds out?" Romania asked.

"Then I'll leave the choice to you," Italy said. "Ciao."

Italy hung up, before he turned to Egypt.

"How is Israel taking it?" Italy asked.

Egypt smirked, before holding up his left hand, revealing the black ribbons. One more had been added.

"He's taking out his frustrations on the two Germans," Egypt said. "How are the partitions coming along?"

"Almost complete," Poland said. "Soon, Germany wouldn't have any status as a nation, and anyone that wants to kill him can do so willingly."

"Good," Italy said. "Gupta, I think you've earned yourself a reward. Why don't you pay your lover a visit?"

Egypt smiled.

"I would like that," Egypt said. He held up his right hand, where the red ribbons appeared. "It's time to strengthen our bond."

"A thought occurred to me," Poland said. "Aren't India and the others coming?"

Italy smirked.

"Si," Italy said. "I'll pass on the message. Someone's certainly going to be happy."

Egypt nodded, before walking out the door, on his way towards the airport.

"That was nice of you," Poland commented, sitting on Italy's lap.

"But of course," Italy said, pecking Poland's lips. "We are bound together not only by hate, but by love. We've been adding a lot of hate to our group. We need to strengthen our bonds of love."

"Really?! _Again_?!"

Italy and Poland immediately grew annoyed, turning their gazes to San Marino, Vatican standing right behind him.

"Fratello, we need to work on your sense of timing," Italy said. "What is it?"

"The two of us were just on our way to give the prisoners their supper," Vatican said, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"You may want to wait," Poland said. "They have a visitor. But I wouldn't mind some dinner."

Poland stood, and Italy still looked annoyed, for different reasons.

…

"I'm bored," Sealand said. "When can we take them out?"

"Patience," Finland said. "Italy and Poland will tell us when we can strike."

"Remind me why we take orders from them again," Ladonia said.

"Because this is their plan," Finland sighed. "They've also got the most strategic minds among all of us. If any of us do something without their say-so, then it tends to end badly."

"How do you know?" Sealand asked.

"Been there, done that. Trust me. But patience is a virtue, and waiting for the right opportunity to strike makes the victory all the sweeter."

"I guess that's true. Any idea when we'll be taking out Jerk England?"

"That one will _definitely_ need a lot of planning. England's pretty influential and powerful, remember?"

"We took down Germany," Ladonia pointed out. "He's pretty influential and powerful too."

"We caught Germany by surprise. Everyone else is on their guard now."

The two micronations shrugged, acknowledging that it might be true. They didn't know much about wars, so they trusted Finland's judgement.

"So they're in this too," a voice said from the doorway.

The three turned to see Iceland, who looked like he was trying to make himself smaller.

"If you really want to keep it secret," Iceland said, "why are you speaking so loudly?"

"Because we can sense when an enemy is near," Finland said. "We've spent _years_ honing that ability. You're not an enemy, so we didn't sense you coming."

"That's right," Sealand said, smirking. "You're like our slave now."

Iceland flinched, and it was clear that he could see his place. In the new empire that Finland and his allies were building, Iceland ranked lower than the two micronations.

"Peter," Finland said, turning to Sealand, "why don't you go visit England? We need eyes and ears there."

Sealand nodded to Finland, a grin on his face. Sealand ran out the door, flashing a devious grin towards Iceland as he passed him.

Finland quickly took out his phone when he received a text, and he grinned in satisfaction. He showed the message to Ladonia, who grinned as well.

"Looks like we're getting some action," Finland said.

…

England was sitting with his brothers, having tea with them, while Wales was preparing dinner. The Welshman would check on the food in the oven every now and again, making sure that his food didn't end up like England's or Scotland's usually did.

England didn't like the fact that his brothers decided to invite themselves over, using whatever's going on in the world as an excuse. Of course, England knew that they were worried – he was worried too – but this was a bit excessive.

England sighed in relief when he heard someone knocking on his door. It meant that he got a break from his brothers' company. Although if it was France or America, he would immediately go back to his brothers.

He opened the door, and he was a bit surprised by the person standing there. He knew it was a nation, and there was a hint of familiarity about him, but for the life of him England couldn't identify who the nation was.

"Yes?" England asked.

"You don't recognise me, do you?" the other asked. "Understandable, considering the fact that my colleague's been dealing with everyone for years. I'm Black South Africa. You might know me as the Zulu Empire."

England's eyes widened, and now he knew exactly who the other was.

"What are you doing here?" England asked. "I thought South Africa cut its ties, along with the rest of the continent."

"It's about that," Black said. "Please, may I come in?"

England stared at the other for a moment before opening the door wider, allowing the African nation to enter. He could tell that the other had something important to say. And he could tell that whatever it was, it would change everything.

 **About their name: I've been having trouble thinking of a good name for weeks. I was actually about to ask my sister when it hit me. It's a combination of 'amo' and 'odi', love and hate. The two emotions are extremely important for Italy's group, as you will see more of as time goes by.**

 **Sorry for those that looked forward to the gore. I think it might have been a little underwhelming. I want to keep this a T, and I'm not one that believes in excessive gore, since in most stories where I see it it's actually a cheap gimmick to try to make the story darker.**

 **And I've hinted NethPort and PortChu, now I want know which one you'd prefer. It will determine either China or Netherlands's fate. Or I could do a triangle. That would certainly make things interesting.**

 **But yeah, the reason why they chose Portugal was because he opened the gates to new opportunities for them before without realising it, and they're hoping he would do it again. There's also another reason which would be revealed in a few chapters.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Thanks to fishstick1999, Icelandic fan, Space Trooper, MissyMiles, Vanilla-Tsun, SilverStarJones, Cardfighter By Maple, snowgem33, The secret trio, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, catscats1223, magicflyingmintbunnies, OneLetteredWonder, Ariaprincess, topaz3 and two anons for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 12**

The British siblings were silent as they absorbed the information. Black was fidgeting nervously, waiting for them to come to their own conclusions.

Finally, England sighed, levelling Black with a look.

"How do we know any of this is true?" England asked.

Black sighed.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't believe me," he said. "I mean, why would you? You haven't seen or heard from me since White and I became one country. And you've known several of them for so long… But isn't there _one_ time when you thought that something about them seemed… fake? You know them better than I do, so you tell me."

They were silent for a moment, before Scotland sighed.

"I remember a time when I met Rome's grandsons," Scotland said. "I could see the cunning looks in their eyes. Then a few centuries passed and I saw them again. I couldn't believe they were the same kids. They didn't have the same looks, but…"

"Italy always has his eyes closed," England said. "Now, what could he be hiding?"

"And what about India?" Black asked. "White told me that he's involved as well."

"It doesn't seem like him," England said. "Unless… In the beginning he seemed to protest the idea of being under our control. Then after a while he seemed to accept it, all too willingly."

"He was also spending a lot of time with Canada in the beginning," Scotland said.

"Who?" England asked.

Wales reached over and smacked England upside his head, and the younger yelped in pain.

"I have a feeling that was part of their plan as well then," Northern Ireland said. "If it's true. Having someone that can fade away from existence, or memory."

"Could be reinforced by magic," England mused. "Who else is involved that could use magic?"

"I don't know them, remember?" Black asked. "I think Egypt might have magic, but I'm not sure about anyone else."

"Then list off a few names."

"North and South Korea, Canada, Finland, Romania…"

"Wait," England interrupted. "Are you saying _Romania's_ involved?"

"Yes."

"Bloody hell," England said. "The two of us are in the magic trio together, along with Norway. We've exchanged a lot of magic between each other. And… Oh no. I think there _was_ something."

"Spit it out, then," Scotland said.

"There was a book in Romania's basement. He didn't seem to want us to touch it. I can't remember much about it, but I _do_ remember feeling something strange from it. Almost as though I was standing in front of another nation, except it seemed… older. Ancient, in fact."

They were all silent for a moment, and the silence was broken when they heard a childlike voice shouting.

"I'm back, Jerk England!"

"Oh no," England groaned. "Of all the times, he has to come _now_?"

A moment later Sealand entered the room. He had a bright – and, according to England, obnoxious – smile on his face. The smile fell when his gaze landed on Black.

"Who's this?" he asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"It doesn't matter," England said. "Adults are talking. Why don't you go back to Sweden's? I'm sure Finland…"

England trailed off, his eyes wide.

"On second thought, why don't you just go upstairs?" England asked. "But let the adults speak in private. This isn't a matter for a kid."

"I'm _not_ a kid," Sealand said. "I'm a nation."

"No, you're not," England said, his voice rising.

"Come on," Wales said, standing from his seat. "This isn't helping. Come on, kid. Why don't we go out for ice cream?"

Sealand narrowed his eyes at Black, but he went with Wales nonetheless. Black also narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"There's something strange about that child," Black said.

"He's a micronation," England said. "Neither a human nor a nation, but something in-between."

Black looked towards the doorway again, but he shook his head, before turning back to England.

"You interrupted yourself when you mentioned Finland," Black said. "Does that mean you believe me?"

"Perhaps," England sighed. "If it _is_ true, then I don't want him near Finland. You mentioned that he was part of this group, correct?"

"Yes."

"Who else? Give me a list of everyone you're aware of."

…

America pounded on Mexico's door, waiting for her to answer. With Canada, he usually barged into the home, knowing that Canada wouldn't mind, or at least not complain about it. With Mexico, he couldn't do that.

For one thing, it didn't feel right barging into a woman's home. For another, the one time he actually _did_ barge into her home, well…

Lesson learned. When Mexico was _really_ mad at you, then she tended to aim low. And she, like all female nations, was _strong_ when she's mad. Prussia complained about Hungary hitting him with a frying pan over the head. That was _nothing_ compared to Mexico hitting you with a bat in the vital regions while angry, partly because you were breaking and entering, and partly because she was practicing Basque Pelota. She didn't appreciate the interruption, and America _still_ couldn't figure out which one she was angriest over.

When a few moments passed and she _still_ didn't answer, he took out his cell phone and punched in Mexico's number. He drummed his fingers as he waited for Mexico to pick it up.

"What is it, gringo?" Mexico's voice spoke from the other end.

"Why aren't you answering your door?" America asked.

"Because I'm in _Spain_. Haven't been in my home for a day or two."

"Then why are there Mexican soldiers in Texas?"

"Haven't you heard? There's a lot of cartel activity lately. It must have gone over into your country. Sorry gringo, but _I_ have nothing to do with this. Now, get out of my country."

Mexico hung up, and America scowled before he put his phone away. Just when he put it away, it rang, and he was quick to answer.

"That was fast," England's voice said from the other end.

"What is it, Iggy?" America asked. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"We may have a war on our hands," England said. "It's important that you come here, immediately."

"Why should I get involved in this?"

"Because one of your neighbours is on the other side."

America looked towards the door, and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Fine," America said. "I'm on my way."

…

"What do you want, England?" China snarled into his phone. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"I'm sorry for that," England said. "I just need you to come to my house for an urgent meeting."

China raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"And who else will be at this 'meeting'?" China asked.

"The old Axis and Allies, with the exception of Germany and Italy," England said.

"I can understand Germany, but why won't Italy be coming?"

"I'll explain everything at the meeting. We might have World War Three on our hands."

China was silent for a moment.

"If this is paranoia regarding North Korea…" China began.

"It's not paranoia. And North Korea is only the tip of the iceberg. He has allies. One of them being South Korea."

"I'm _in_ South Korea."

"What? You need to leave, immediately. But please, don't let them…"

"Relax. I'm at a hotel. They weren't at South's home, and he said that they were touring the unifying country."

"China, do you believe that?"

China was quiet for a moment, before he sighed.

"No," China admitted. "I'm coming. And you better not be wasting my time."

"I won't. I promise."

"Fine. I'll see you soon."

China hung up, and he tiredly looked around the room before he decided to pack his bags. If England was speaking the truth, then he _needed_ to get out of there.

But could England be right about North and South Korea being involved in whatever was going on? It was true, there was a lot of international tension, but…

North Korea coming out of isolation, Germany being attacked, no one having heard from Germany since then, and pretty much the entire continent of Africa cutting off all ties outside the continent. Could it be a coincidence?

China closed his eyes, reaching out to his country. His eyes snapped open when he sensed an emptiness. Emptiness from Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau.

With shaky hands he dialled Hong Kong's number. It kept ringing, until eventually it connected to voicemail. That terrified him. Hong Kong _always_ had his phone with him. He then tried Macau, but it _immediately_ went to voicemail.

Could England be right? And could something have happened to the other three? Was it coincidence that the two Koreas were gone, and now three of his autonomous territories were missing?

China sped up his packing. He needed to find out what's going on, and since it would seem that England knew more than he did, he would need to go to England to find his answers.

…

Portugal sighed, looking around. Romano had brought him to their base, and he had yet to figure out _why_.

It was strange to see Romano looking so relaxed. Normally, if Romano had a relaxed face, there was at least a hint of a scowl remaining. But his face held no hint of it now, and it was as though he was looking at a completely new person.

Portugal knew that he wouldn't be able to escape. He was in the den of the devils. There was no way that he could make a run for it. His phone had been confiscated, and he didn't know who else was there.

He jumped when he heard people approaching, and he frantically turned towards the direction of the new arrivals. He could see North and South Korea, India, Hong Kong, Tibet and…

"Macau!" Portugal said, jumping from his seat.

Macau looked surprised, and hesitated for a moment.

"You too?" Macau whispered.

"Sim," Portugal said.

The two suddenly embraced each other, holding the other tightly. Both of them were afraid of what was going on, and sought out comfort from someone they knew was not an enemy.

"Cute," North Korea said. He turned to Romano. "Why isn't he in the basement?"

"Israel is in there, taking out his frustrations from the Holocaust on Germany and Prussia," Romano explained.

"So it's not going to be pretty," India observed, walking closer to Romano.

Portugal watched with wide eyes as India cupped Romano's cheek, before the two of them kissed each other gently, but lovingly. Hong Kong and Macau's jaws dropped at the sight.

"You're catching flies," South Korea joked, and the other two Asians immediately clamped their mouths closed.

"How long?" Portugal asked.

The two kissing nations separated, before turning towards their audience.

"Long enough," Romano said.

He and India clasped their right hands together, and red ribbons wrapped around the clasped hands. They were bright red, and Portugal could see a slight glow from the ribbons.

"I see," Portugal said. "Hate is easy. Love is difficult. You've been at this long enough for those bonds to strengthen and grow. But why only you two?"

"Who said it's only _them_?" North Korea asked, as he and South held up their own right hands.

Red ribbons appeared, but there was no connection that could be seen. It meant that they weren't connected to each other, and that the ones they were connected to weren't in the room.

"Why are you telling us?" Portugal asked.

"Witnesses," Romano said. "What can you tell us about our bonds?"

Portugal stared at the ribbons for a moment.

"It's strong," Portugal said. "Stronger than any attempt I've ever seen."

"Probably because all of your attempts failed, am I right?" India suggested. "The same with France and Spain."

Portugal glared, before looking around again.

"Amodi," Portugal said. "Amo et odi."

"You figured it out," Romano said. "Do you think France will too? He's the only one left that knows about it that isn't part of us, dead, or you."

"Why?" Portugal asked.

"Because you're going to help us create more Bonds."

…

Finland smiled as he brought a batch of freshly-baked cookies to the other Nordics. Ladonia was trailing behind him.

"Cookies!" Denmark exclaimed, reaching out for a few.

"What's the occasion?" Norway asked, taking one as well.

"Nothing much," Finland said. "Just thought I'd be nice. Ber?"

Sweden shrugged, before taking a cookie as well.

"What about you, Ice?" Denmark asked, stuffing a cookie into his mouth.

Iceland glanced towards Finland, who fixed him with a hard look. Iceland shook his head.

"No thanks," Iceland said. "Not in the mood."

Denmark shrugged, stuffing more into his mouth. Norway and Sweden each took another cookie as well.

"What about _you_ , kiddo?" Denmark asked, looking at Ladonia.

"I gave him a few in the kitchen," Finland said, shrugging.

Denmark continued to stuff his face, and Norway and Sweden took yet another cookie as well.

Finland smirked, before he sat down. Finland and Ladonia watched the three Scandinavians with anticipation, and Iceland with dread.

Denmark was the first to show them what they had been waiting for. It started with a coughing fit, and he gulped down some of his beer in order to alleviate the coughing fit, but it only got worse.

And then Norway and Sweden started to cough as well.

"What's going…?" Denmark began, before his eyes fell on a smirking Finland. "You."

"What… did you… do?" Sweden asked.

"The cookies contain a potion that removes your status as a nation," Finland said. "You'll be human soon enough. But you won't age. Kind of like Prussia." Finland removed a pretty large knife. "But you can die."

"Why?" Sweden asked.

"The three of you have a lot of good memories from the Kalmar Union," Finland said. "As for me… It was hell. You treated me like a servant – no, _worse_. A servant wasn't mocked and ridiculed for every little thing, even something they did right. You took my language away, or tried to. You took my land. You killed my people. And then when the Union started breaking," he looked at Sweden, " _you_ couldn't let me go my own way. I had _tried_ to walk away, to earn my freedom for the first time in so long. But you wouldn't let me." Finland's rage had been building as he spoke, but now he smiled. "Then you took me to Poland's house, to get Latvia and Estonia. And Poland made me an offer I _couldn't_ refuse. Revenge. All I had to do was pretend to be the Finland that you thought you knew. You had pushed me down so much, you never saw what I'm _really_ like. You made me so scared of you that you thought that that's what I'm really like. So it was easy to apply the mask."

"What are you going to do to us?" Norway asked.

The three former Vikings became weaker, unable to move much. And as Finland was speaking, he had given enough time for the potion to make them even weaker.

"You're lucky that Iceland asked me to spare _you_ ," Finland said. "As for Denmark and Sweden…" He twirled the knife, letting it catch the light. "We're going to have a double funeral soon."

"Why?" Norway asked, looking at Iceland.

Tears had started to stream down Iceland's face, and he turned pleading eyes to Norway.

"I'm sorry, Big Brother," Iceland said. "I'm so, _so_ sorry…"

"It doesn't matter," Finland said. "Once the potion's finished running its course, you will die."

"It won't work," Norway said. "You need to have a replacement."

"We do," Finland said. "The penta-contract. If five nations agree for a transfer of land from one nation to another, then as soon as one nation lost his status as nation, then the transfer is automatic. The nations involved wouldn't even need to sign the contract."

"Impossible!" Norway said. "That's a lot of complicated magic. _You_ wouldn't be able to do something like that."

"But Romania can."

It was silent for a moment.

"So, you're transferring our land to you," Denmark said. "Looks like you're a Viking after all."

"I'm not taking all of it," Finland said. "Someone else has been promised a share."

Finland looked towards Ladonia, who smirked at Sweden.

"And Peter?" Sweden asked.

"He gets England out of the deal," Ladonia said.

Finland grinned.

"The process is complete," Finland said. "World War Three is coming. Too bad you won't be around to see it."

…

Sealand sulked as he and Wales returned to England's house, though he plastered a smile on his face for Wales. He wanted to know who that other nation was.

"So, why won't you tell me who it was?" Sealand asked.

Wales sighed, looking to the ceiling.

"He's a former colony of ours," Wales said. "And he's in a bit of trouble."

"Is he African?"

"Yeah. But I can't tell you from where in Africa."

"What? Why not?"

Wales looked at him oddly.

"Like I said, he's in a bit of trouble. It's a matter for the nations. No need to tell you."

Sealand pouted, before going up to his room. He passed by the unknown nation, and he couldn't help but throw him a suspicious glance.

He went into his room, closing the door behind him. He made sure that no one was around before taking out his cell phone, dialling a familiar number.

"What is it, Sealand?" Italy asked.

"We've got a situation," Sealand said, keeping his voice low. "I'm at England's house, and there's someone here that I don't know. A nation."

"Do you know anything about him?" Italy asked, voice serious.

"Just that he's an African, and a former colony of the British Empire."

"See if you can get us a photo of him. I'll ask Canada or India if they know him. And try to figure out what's going on."

Sealand yelped when the door was opened, and he put his phone out of sight as England walked into his room.

"Who are you speaking to?" England asked.

"What's it to you?" Sealand snapped.

England sighed.

"I won't keep you for long," England said. "I just need you to know that other nations will be coming for a meeting. They should be here by tomorrow. You need to stay out of the way."

"But I'm a nation too!" Sealand protested.

"No, you're not. Something serious is going on, and I don't want you involved. Why don't you go visit Wy and Seborga?"

"But…"

"Peter, this is not up for negotiation. This is too dangerous. Now, keep out of the way tomorrow."

England left, and Sealand glared, before he picked up the phone again.

"They have a meeting tomorrow," Sealand said. "I think they're suspicious."

"See if you can spy on them," Italy said. "Report back your findings, alright?"

"I understand," Sealand said. "I won't disappoint you."

Sealand hung up, and he turned to the door with a grin.

"I _will_ be a nation soon," Sealand said. "And when we're finished, you'll be lucky if you end up as a _micro_ nation. Things are changing. And you won't even see it coming."


	14. Chapter 13

**Thanks to snowgem33, Cardfighter By Maple, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, SilverStarJones and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 13**

England looked around at the nations gathered in his living room, nodding his head in satisfaction. Morocco had accompanied France, and he was pleased to see her, since this would involve her as well.

"I'm glad you could all make it," England said. "I know it's short notice, but this is an emergency."

"You said that this has to do with what's going on," China said. "So spit it out."

"Da," Russia said. "I'm also curious to know about what's going on. And who your friend is."

England glanced towards Black, who surprisingly looked calm.

"This is the former nation known as the Zulu Empire," England explained. "And just like how you get a North and South Italy, you get a Black and White South Africa."

"What?" China exclaimed, looking at Black, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I handle all the internal affairs, since our current boss prefers me," Black said. "White knows you guys better than I do, so she handles external affairs. I'm actually the one that recommended she befriend you and Russia."

"How have we not heard of you before?" Russia asked.

"This obliviousness is what's saving us," England said. "Since only one South Africa is known to everyone, only one has been subjected to _them_."

"What do you mean?" France asked.

"Recently, it's been revealed that a few nations have been conspiring to start World War Three," Black explained. "They've managed to make preparations in a way that didn't alert anyone of their actions. And with the attack on Germany, they've decided to make their move."

"Who are they?" Japan asked.

"From what White could tell me, they call themselves 'Amodi'. Their leaders are Italy and Poland."

"Oh, is that all?" Russia asked. "They should be easy to defeat then, da?"

"No," Black said. "They've been using a mask for centuries. White said they have a lot of cunning. There are five nations in Africa that's part of their group: Egypt, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia."

"Libya?" Morocco asked. "But… how? And… Egypt's burning of the mosques. Does this have anything to do with…?"

"Possibly."

"But why burn down something in your own country?"

"We don't know," England said. "There's more. The entire continent of Africa, except of course for you, Morocco, is under their control."

"They used blackmail," Black said. "They enchanted the contracts, making sure that they couldn't be destroyed. And they held everyone hostage. They said they had bombers ready for everyone."

"They could have been lying," Russia said.

"They weren't. After White told me, I checked. Not only were there bombers to attack from the sky, but we've also found bombs planted underneath a few of our most prominent buildings, to attack from the ground. Trust me, I'm pretty good with explosives."

"You're the more violent one, if I recall correctly," England said wryly, and Black chuckled. "America, you've been oddly quiet."

America was frowning slightly, and when he was addressed, he turned his attention to England.

"You said that my neighbour is involved," America said. "Which one were you referring to?"

"Canada," Black said.

America sighed, nodding his head.

"If you're telling the truth," America said, "and if Mattie was lying to me… Then I can believe how they've managed to fool everyone."

"What did Canada say?" England asked.

"I confronted him about some issues in Alaska, and how Canadian soldiers were there. He said that there was a murder in his country, and that the murderer was pretty high up in the military. Apparently he jumped the border. Anyway, since you called, I looked into it. Mattie said he forgot, but his military wouldn't, and there was no authorisation or information about it. He was lying, now that I think about it. But he was too believable."

Russia's attention had been perked when America mentioned Alaska, and he frowned thoughtfully.

"Who else is involved?" Japan asked, directing the question at Black.

"North and South Korea," Black began.

Japan's eyes widened, and China's narrowed.

"Opium mentioned it," China said. "That would explain the _convenient_ timing of North Korea's coming out of isolation, as well as the Korean reunification, and why Yong Soo hadn't called to complain about North yet."

"They were never separated," Japan muttered.

"They've been in this together the whole time," America said, before turning his attention to Black. "How many in the Middle East?"

"Only Egypt," Black sighed. "India is also involved."

Russia and China's eyes widened at the revelation.

"What about Mexico?" America asked.

"If Mexico's involved, then he wasn't involved since the beginning."

"She. Mexico's a girl. I'm asking because there's been a disturbance at my southern border too, and Mexico also had a pretty fishy excuse, now that I think about it."

"If only you can show your smart side more often," England sighed. "Russia, there's someone you need to hear of as well."

Russia blinked, before turning his attention to Black.

"Belarus," Black said, and Russia's eyes widened.

"You had better be joking," Russia said in a cold voice, his aura making its appearance.

"I'm not," Black said. "Finland is also involved."

Russia winced, thoughts drifting to the Winter War.

"Romania is also involved," Black continued. "As well as Switzerland and Liechtenstein."

"Quoi?" France asked. "But… how? I mean… Switzerland is supposed to be _neutral_. C'est impossible. C'est…"

"True," England said. "We assume."

"There's also Vatican and San Marino," Black said.

"And I'm assuming Romano is involved as well, if Italy is," France said.

"And lastly, there's Chile, Venezuela, Argentina and Peru," Black said. "I think that's it."

"No Mongolia?" Russia asked, and Black shook his head.

"This is a little too much," China said. "This can't be real."

"Mexico said she went to Spain," America said, turning to France. "When was the last time you spoke to him?"'

France frowned, before he took out his cell phone. Everyone watched in silence as France dialled a number, and they saw France pale as his frown deepened. He hung up the phone, looking dully at America.

"He's not answering," France said. "It's almost like what happened with Prussia. I went to Germany's house. The door was unlocked, and there was no sign of a fight, except… There were bloodstains near the basement door."

"Anything else?" Japan asked.

"Non."

"The only way that's possible is if they were suddenly caught off guard," Russia said. "That would imply that they knew whoever attacked and possibly captured them. And _trusted_ them."

"And Italy would fit the bill," England sighed. "Has anyone else noticed anything?"

"Tibet, Macau and Hong Kong are missing," China said.

"What?! Why didn't you say so before?"

"I wanted to know what you have to say about this. I can't sense them through my country, and I can't reach their cell phones. And _you_ should know how Hong Kong is with his cell phone."

"Of course. This is worrisome."

"Are we going to confront them?" America asked. "We have the evidence, so let's confront them."

"Not yet," England said. He turned to France. "We need to go to Spain's house. See if everything's okay."

"We should ask Portugal, non?" France asked.

"Right," England said, taking out his own cell phone.

He dialled the number, but after a few seconds brought the phone away, sighing.

"No answer," he said, looking worried.

"You go to Lisbon, I'll go to Madrid," France said. "We need to make sure that we're wrong. That nothing had happened to them."

"And if something _had_ happened?"

"Then we can assume that everything you said is correct," China said, looking at Black.

"What are the rest of us going to do while you go to Spain and Portugal?" Japan asked.

"Make yourselves comfortable," England sighed, before turning to his brothers, who had been quiet throughout the meeting. "And please, no one try to kill each other."

"No promises," Scotland said.

…

Sealand had been sitting outside, spying on the meeting. Unfortunately he didn't hear the beginning, when England introduced the unknown nation, so he _still_ didn't know who it was. He thought he heard him refer to someone called 'white', but his accent slightly muffled it.

He _did_ manage a discreet photo earlier, and he already sent it to Italy. But now, he had another, more important piece of information to relay to Italy.

He took out his phone and typed a quick message.

 _They know_.

…

Italy stared at the photo that Sealand had sent him, trying to recall if he had ever seen the nation before. He couldn't remember seeing him at meetings, so who…?

He looked up when India and Romano entered the room, hands intertwined.

"India," Italy said, catching the other's attention, "can you tell me who this is?"

India shrugged, before taking the phone from Italy. He frowned in confusion, before he shook his head.

"Sealand told me that it's a former colony of England," Italy said.

India's eyes widened, before he looked at the photo again.

"I think I've seen him," India said. "A _very_ long time ago. Maybe as a child? I don't know."

"Who is that, fratello?" Romano asked.

Italy frowned when he received a message on his phone, and he quickly checked the message after India returned the phone to him. He growled in annoyance.

"Someone that knows too much," Italy said. "Now, the former Allies and Japan all know."

"What?" Romano asked. "No. It's too soon."

Italy growled, before he stood up.

"I'm going to find Feliks," he said. "We're going to need to think of a plan to deal with this whistle blower."

…

Algeria, Ghana and DRC were sitting in the lounge of the base, each slumped in defeat. Ghana and DRC had explained that there was a long time where Côte d'Ivoire's screams weren't being broadcasted to them, so they thought he had escaped. That changed sometime during what they assumed was the night, and he screamed louder and higher than ever before. They couldn't take it, having been so hopeful and then having that hope crushed. The screams had also lasted longer, as though the tormentor was making up for lost time.

Algeria had already explored the base, and had determined that Côte d'Ivoire wasn't in the same building as them. And Switzerland and Liechtenstein refused to allow them to leave the building.

That's another thing she noticed. Only Switzerland and Liechtenstein remained.

And now all they could do was wait for the other six to surrender, and then hopefully Côte d'Ivoire would be released.

…

Canada was sitting in front of the TV, watching the news. The Americans were still confused about the Canadian presence in Alaska, the Mexican presence in Texas, the uproar in Nevada, and the apparent return of the Confederacy, though they didn't outright say it.

What amused Canada the most was the fact that the Americans thought that they were four unrelated stories.

His eyes widened when there was a knock on the door, and Kumajiro glanced towards the door, sniffing the air.

"It's safe," Kumajiro said. "It's one of ours."

Canada nodded, before making his way towards the door. Taking Kumajiro's word for it, he didn't bother to look through the peephole and immediately opened the door.

He smiled when he saw who was on the other end.

"Gupta," Canada greeted, pulling the Egyptian closer. "What are you doing here?"

"I've finished everything I needed to do," Egypt said, before he pecked the Canadian on the lips. "And now I want to spend some time with you."

Canada grinned, before he pulled the other inside.

"Do you want something to eat?" Canada asked. "I'm sure you could use something sweet."

Egypt chuckled, following the other to the kitchen.

"Nothing could be sweeter than you," Egypt said.

And in the living room, Kumajiro gagged at the too-cute display of two nations who he knew could be quite vicious. The bear decided that he would rather go hunting than spend any more time with those two in the house.

…

Côte d'Ivoire was panting, relieved that he could have a bit of a break. Whoever it was that was visiting Romania, he was grateful to them, since Romania couldn't spend all of his time down with him, and didn't stay for too long.

He was finally given a chance to recuperate, and he took full advantage of it.

His eyes widened when he heard the door, and he groaned. So much for a chance to recuperate.

…

Romania was distracted, and knew that Moldova could probably sense it, because while they were eating lunch Moldova suddenly turned to him, a curious and concerned look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Moldova asked. "You seem out of it."

Romania plastered a smile on his face before he shook his head. The boy had always been perceptive.

"Nu," Romania said. "I guess I'm just thinking about the work my boss left me."

"If you have too much work to do, I can leave," Moldova said, a worried look on his face, but the eyes told him that he didn't want to go yet.

"Nu, it's fine," Romania said. "You said it's just a few days. And we hardly ever get to spend time together. I'm sure my boss will understand. Hey, why don't we go out? We can buy ice cream, or candy. Have you ever had marshmallows on ice cream before?"

"Nuh-uh," Moldova said, looking excited. "Let's go!"

"I just need to do something really quickly," Romania said. "I'll only be about twenty minutes. Think you can wait that long?"

Moldova nodded, and Romania smiled before he ruffled the boy's hair. He stood and immediately made his way to the basement, and after he made sure that Moldova wasn't following him, he descended to the subbasement.

Moldova still sat in the kitchen, having followed Romania with his eyes until he was out of sight. He knew that his brother was going to the basement. It wasn't the first time that day that he had gone.

Moldova couldn't help but wonder what Romania was doing down there.

…

Norway was staring blankly at the screen of the TV, Iceland holding onto him. The two seriously needed comfort, and they could only turn to each other.

Sweden and Denmark's corpses were in the basement. They didn't know what Finland intended with the bodies, but they knew that there was no way the two of them would be able to come back.

Norway could feel it. He was completely disconnected from his country. He couldn't feel Norway at all. He was now just Lukas.

"I'm sorry," Iceland whispered for the umpteenth time.

"It's not your fault," Norway said for the umpteenth time as well.

He had learned about the threat that Finland had made to Iceland, and he couldn't blame his brother for surrendering. He knew that it would have killed his brother, and there would have been no way for him to survive.

But Norway felt that _he_ should die as well. The only thing that's keeping him alive was Iceland, in more than one way. Iceland had promised his cooperation if Finland would spare Norway, and Norway couldn't leave his brother to deal with the two psychopathic nations.

And he could feel that the shift had taken place in Ladonia as well. The boy was no longer a micronation, but a full-fledged nation. And Norway could swear that the boy had grown about three centimetres.

Norway still had his magic – humans could have magic too – but it wasn't as much as he used to have, with the country of Norway to offer it to him. He wasn't even sure if he could see his troll or fairies anymore. Oh, if Finland had taken _that_ away from him as well…

"The world _still_ doesn't know," Iceland murmured.

"I know," Norway said. "How many more will end up in our situation or worse before they realise what's going on?"

"It would be too many."

…

Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau were in the basement, tied up, just like the German brothers across the room from them.

"You really took a beating," Hong Kong stated bluntly.

"Israel still seems to harbour some anger over World War Two," Germany said. "But I don't recall him being _that_ angry in the past. I mean, until recently, he had been _afraid_."

"I sense a lot of hate in the air," Tibet said. "It's like a spider's web. It's there, even if it's not directed at anyone in particular. But the hate is poisoning everyone around it, or at least everyone that they decide to weave in their web."

Macau sighed, looking at the ceiling.

"What are they doing with Portugal?" Macau wondered.

"He knows what's going on," Hong Kong said. "Something about those ribbons."

"Ribbons?" Prussia asked. "Was it wrapped around their hands?"

"Yeah. Do you know anything about it?"

"I think I heard Franny and Toni tell me about some ancient nation magic that involves threads wrapped around the hands, connecting people together. And if it's become unbreakable, it becomes a ribbon. But I can't remember too much about it. I was drunk at the time. We all were."

"Is there anything else you remember about it?" Tibet asked.

"Ja. Red is love, and black is hate. And black is easier to create than red."

"Well, they have both," Macau said. "Amo et odi."

They grew silent when they heard the door open, and they tensed when they heard footsteps. The only time footsteps were accepted was when food was involved – they were held captive by Italians, after all – but it was too early for food.

Italy soon appeared, looking intimidating, and everyone remained silent out of fear. He turned to the Asians, completely ignoring the Germans, and he stepped up to Hong Kong.

"There's an old colony of England's that I need you to identify," Italy said, holding up his cell phone.

Hong Kong scrutinised the photo, a frown on his face.

"I don't know who it is," Hong Kong said.

Italy narrowed his eyes.

"If you're lying…" Italy warned.

"I'm not. I can vaguely recognise him, but I don't know who it is. Probably someone that was absorbed by another nation."

"Absorbed?"

"Yeah. You know, someone that lost status as a nation but became part of another nation? Probably someone that only represents a certain part of the nation?"

Italy glanced towards Prussia.

"And how many nations would know about someone like that?" Italy asked.

"Depends on how social they are," Tibet said. "After all, not many nations can recognise _me_ on first sight, can they?"

"True."

"What are you doing with Portugal?" Macau asked eventually.

"Don't worry," Italy said. "He's unharmed. We just need his status as a Romance nation and a great explorer."

"And then what?"

"He won't be killed, like Spain. But he will be used to make sure that nations like _you_ keep in line. We still have East Timor left of the Portuguese-speakers. And now that I think about it, Laos would also be a good addition."

Macau widened his eyes when he realised how many of his Portuguese family were under Italy's control, and Italy smirked before he left.

And what about Madeira and Azores? Macau was _really_ starting to fear for his family's safety.

 **I've been teaching myself Portuguese lately (since I can't rely on my mom to teach me) and the book I'm using has a lot of the culture involved as well, so it's kind of having an influence on what I write.**

 **The part about Black being the more violent South Africa is a reference to the Zulus, who were the most violent native tribe, the Xhosas following them. The Zulus liked to overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers, and they were also responsible for the worst defeat a modern army had ever faced against a native, 'primitive' army. And on the contrary, the Boers preferred guerrilla tactics and defensive positions.**

 **And writing the characters like this is** _ **really**_ **fun.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Thanks to Eternal Nexus Warrior, Vanilla-Tsun, Cardfighter By Maple, Forever Prosperous, SilverStarJones, snowgem33, pastaaddict and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 14**

France frowned, knocking on Spain's door for the third time. Spain had said that he'd be in his Madrid house for the next month. So why wasn't he…?

Of course, he might have just been out, but the fact that he didn't answer his phone made France paranoid.

He took out the spare key that Spain had given him and stuck it in the door. He frowned when he realised that the door was already unlocked, and slowly pushed the door open.

He walked inside, fear gripping his heart. He knew that something was very, _very_ wrong. The house felt… cold. And he was in _Spain_. That was impossible.

"Antonio?" Francis called out. "Mon ami, are you here?"

France walked towards the living room, and the sight he was met with sent him backwards to the wall.

It was Antonio, there was no doubt about it. His friend's eyes were wide open and glassy. There was a gaping hole in his chest, and so much blood surrounding his _corpse_.

France felt himself choke at the thought. Spain was a corpse. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo was _dead_. And judging by the dried blood and the pale pallor of the normally tanned skin, he had been so for at least a day.

France took small steps, too afraid to get too close. But he had to confirm it. He would see if Spain's wounds were healing themselves, and Spain would be up and about soon enough.

But when he was close enough he saw no such thing. He reached out to the body as one nation to another, trying to assess the damage. He found nothing. He couldn't find Spain, even if their lands were connected.

He collapsed to his knees next to the body, stroking those brown curls. He would never be able to spend time with his friend again. They would never concoct pranks with Prussia again.

Prussia…

He didn't even know what happened to his other friend, but seeing Spain lying there, he had little hope that Prussia was still alive.

He looked around for evidence, and saw several wineglasses on the table, the bottle still there. The amount of glasses told him that Spain was outnumbered.

He could also see a shattered glass on the floor, a few drops of blood on the shards.

France burst into tears. He had lost one of his friends in a horrible way. And it wasn't in a war, or…

No, it _was_ a war. Germany had been the first to be attacked, but Spain was the first casualty. And France knew that their enemies intended to kill them.

He took out his phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Angleterre," France said. "C'est moi. Spain's dead. He was murdered. And I can already tell that he's not coming back. You were right. We have a war on our hands."

France hung up, and staring into the blank eyes of his friend, he resolved that he wouldn't rest until Spain had been avenged and justice had been served.

…

England was in Lisbon, but apparently his friend hadn't been there in a while. A few days, at least.

Well, Portugal was kind enough to leave a note, anticipating that England would come. But the note left him feeling a sense of dread.

 _I'm in Spain for a few days, at least until we know what's going on._

France had called to say that Spain was dead. A nation, _dead_. And if Portugal had gone to Spain…

He was either dead, captured, or one of _them_. All three options made him feel cold. And it was the uncertainty that certainly did it for him.

England spun around, making his way back to the airport. He needed to be back in his own country. And then he would need to inform the rest of the world to beware of Italy's group.

Black had given them names. And they would learn who else was involved. They _would_ put a stop to it, before there were any more casualties.

…

Italy was sitting with his laptop on his lap, looking at an enlarged version of the photo of the mysterious nation. Poland was sitting next to him, trying to identify him as well.

"I think we need to convince our Africans to have another meeting," Poland said. "See if one of them can identify him."

"And Lovino would be there as well," Italy said. "Even if they lie, he'd be able to get the truth out."

"Where should we have the meeting?"

"Let's have it in the very middle of the continent," Italy said, pulling up a map of Africa. "After all, the Democratic Republic of the Congo _did_ surrender."

"And wouldn't it be a surprise if they saw a nation they thought had escaped?" Poland mused.

"We also have another problem," Italy said. "They know about us, or at least they suspect. Russia is there, among others."

"The Baltics," Poland said. "He'd make sure to get them under his wing."

"I'll ask Belarus to take care of them," Italy said. "That should make her day."

…

Algeria's group had been joined by Chad and South Sudan. Only four remained.

They looked up with broken expressions when Switzerland approached.

"There's a meeting," Switzerland said. He turned his attention to DRC. "It's going to be held in _your_ country."

"What?!" DRC demanded. "I gave no authorisation!"

"Doesn't matter. The nation whose empire you belong to has the right to decide such things on your behalf. Now get ready. We leave in an hour."

"There's nothing to get ready," Algeria said.

"Then we leave in ten minutes."

…

Romania and Moldova returned from their day out, and Romania had a relaxed smile on his face. It was only for his little brother that his mask was real. Only for Moldova that he didn't need to pretend.

"I'll go make us some dinner," Romania asked, going towards the kitchen.

Moldova beamed, before his attention went to the basement.

His brother had gone down there a few times, and he looked like he had something _really_ important down there. It wasn't in Moldova's nature to pry, but he was extremely curious.

He wanted to know what his big brother was up to, and he would find out, one way or another.

…

The group in England's house was solemn. They had heard the news from England, and didn't know what to do with the information.

Spain was dead. A _nation_ was _dead_. And according to England who heard it from France, it was not one of their temporary deaths.

China had confirmed that it was possible, though the methods were intricate. He had called France to ask if Spain still had his heart, and France denied it. That was one method China knew about. If the heart was torn out while the nation was still living, then it would kill them. The only apparent exception was Russia, but China said that if the heart was attacked while outside his body, then he could die from it.

Never before had death seemed so _real_ to the nations. Sure, there were those that had come and gone, but there was always a war, or an economic collapse, or _something_ that had to do with their countries no longer able to exist. Spain was still alright.

Now they waited for France and England to arrive, and then they would form a plan of action. China had already called Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand, and told them to go to England's house immediately. Russia had also called Ukraine, telling her the same thing. He couldn't trust Belarus. He had to accept that she was the enemy, but what did she want?

If it was an elaborate scheme for Belarus to get Russia to marry her, then he was not amused.

Japan had called Turkey and Greece. They would also need to get out of there as soon as possible. He didn't tell them why it was important, saying that it was information that he couldn't divulge on the phone. It was too risky, and it transferred the message that it was _really_ serious.

Russia had also called the Baltics, and they had easily agreed, still afraid of Russia.

…

Lithuania sighed, packing his bags for his trip to England on Russia's orders. He didn't know what it was about, but he wouldn't dare disobey Russia.

He froze when he felt the blade of a knife pressing against his throat.

"Hello, Litva," a familiar voice said.

"B-Belarus," Lithuania stuttered. "I-I'm j-just a-about t-to g-go. R-Russia's o-orders."

"Really? And what did my brat tell you?"

"T-to g-go t-to Eng-gland."

"I see. So they probably know. But I'm going to kill you now. Poland's orders."

Lithuania's eyes widened, and before he could ask the knife slashed across his throat, deep enough to possibly damage his vocal chords. He wondered what she intended. It couldn't kill him, not permanently. She had done that to him many times.

"I would like to play a little more," Belarus said, "but I have other people to see."

She moved the knife lower and stabbed his chest, going downwards. She sliced it open, and reached into the cavity, removing the Lithuanian's frantically beating heart.

"I know you had this ridiculous crush on me," Belarus said. "But my heart belongs to another. And it _isn't_ Russia. I want nothing more than to do to Russia what I'm about to do to you. You see, Litva, if you destroy the heart of a nation while it's still beating, then you destroy the nation. As though he was nothing but a human."

And she crushed the heart in her hand.

…

Confederacy took a leisurely stroll through Nashville, Tennessee. It has been so long since she's been in her own land, she had forgotten all about the exhilaration she used to feel while being around them.

Around her riots were taking place, and she knew why. She was able to influence them. Give them back their Southern Pride.

They wanted to break away from the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America would do _anything_ to feed the flames burning in _her_ people's hearts.

…

America shuddered. For some reason, he had the same feeling that he had had in the Civil War, of his own people fighting against each other, and him being stuck in the crossfire, until…

No, it was ridiculous. There was no way the Civil War would repeat itself. It couldn't. Confederacy…

What exactly had happened to her?

"Is something wrong, America-san?" Japan asked, startling America.

"Nah, I'm fine," America said. "I guess it's just gas or something. Iggy's brothers' cooking is almost as bad as Iggy's."

"I dare you to repeat that," Scotland said, glaring at America.

"Please, let's not fight amongst each other," Japan said.

"Da," Russia said. "Save it for our enemies."

He was caressing his pipe, and even America knew not to antagonise the Russian at the moment.

"I've told my Baltics to call me before they board the plane," Russia said at last. "They haven't called."

"Maybe they're just stuck in traffic?" China suggested.

"Nyet. I can feel that's not the case."

…

"W-why?" Estonia asked, clawing at the hand at his throat.

Finland smiled, squeezing tighter.

"It's nothing personal," Finland said. "But you need to die. You have no use to us, and we know Russia is going to use you to his advantage, as usual. He told you to meet him somewhere, didn't he?"

"H-how w-would you know?" Estonia asked.

"We've managed to hijack a few communications satellites. We haven't gone through everything yet. We've got something to look for. But we _did_ stumble on Russia's phone call to you, Latvia and Lithuania. And I must say, your reluctance to go is _delicious_ for us."

Finland threw Estonia back inside his house, closing the door behind him. Estonia backed up as far as possible, and Finland grinned at the sight.

"You know, you were my friend once upon a time," Finland said. "But then I realised just how _weak_ and _pathetic_ you are. You _disgust_ me."

Estonia whimpered. Every word cut like a knife. A serrated knife.

Finland closed in on him.

"You wanted to join the Nordics," Finland said. "Well, you can join Denmark and Sweden in death. Say 'hi' to them for me."

…

Kugelmugel stared coldly at the unconscious Latvian, an empty syringe in his hand. He had been sent ahead to at least buy Belarus time until she came to kill the youngest Baltic nation. And Finland had said that he would take care of Estonia.

Kugelmugel waited for the go-ahead so that he could take over Austria's land. Ladonia had already been elevated to a nation, and he knew that it would be his turn soon.

Sealand would get England, and possibly the rest of Great Britain, perhaps Northern Ireland. They were still trying to see whether or not they would be able to turn Ireland against the others, and whether or not it was the best course of action.

Seborga would gain Monaco, as well as territory in France. Switzerland would also get a piece of France.

Wy and Hutt River would divide Australia between the two of them. They might also get New Zealand.

And Molossia had already started working on gaining territory from America.

The micronations were settled, and soon they wouldn't be _micro_ anymore. And they didn't care _who_ they had to get out of the way, or _how_.

He looked down at his right wrist. A golden ribbon was tied to it, and it disappeared suddenly.

Love and Hate weren't the only Bonds they shared.

…

Norway and Iceland had been left alone with Ladonia. They would have fought and rebelled against the former micronation, but there was a glint in his eye that had them staying away.

Ladonia was absorbing Sweden's history, and that included the Viking era.

And after giving it some thought, Norway realised that Finland was right. They didn't treat him properly. They _had_ treated him like a slave, and had essentially abused him.

Was it so surprising that he had snapped?

And both Nordics had to wonder how it was possible for the child to be fine with everything that's going on. He wasn't hardened by war and death, so how was it possible?

He didn't even flinch when Sweden and Denmark had been killed.

Iceland had been frantic, yelling at Finland that the other had said that he wouldn't need to see it. Finland had simply smiled and said he changed his mind.

Of course, they knew why he did that. It was a warning. A warning of what might happen, should they give problems.

And they would heed that warning, until they found a way to get away from the two psychotic nations.

…

England and France arrived back at the former's house together, and it concerned the others that the two weren't bickering. France also looked like he had been crying. A lot.

"We need to do something," England said.

"What do you suggest?" Japan asked.

"I say we confront them," America said. "Call Italy and Canada. Technically speaking, they're supposed to be here."

"They would be helpless here," China said, nodding his head. "We outnumber them, and if they try anything we can easily overpower them."

"I'm not so sure," England said. "It would all depend on how much territory they have. As Black said, they have most of the African continent."

France tensed, his eyes wide.

"Is something wrong?" Japan asked.

"They wouldn't, would they?" France whispered.

"They wouldn't what?" England asked.

"It's a strategy that Rome taught us," France said. "The Continent Conquest."

China tensed, and the others turned to him.

"You know it?" England asked.

China nodded.

"I've been secretly doing it in Africa as well," China said. "But I used money. You know, invest a lot. Take them over slowly. Just in case. That's why I was so upset that my contacts in Africa got cut off. If they're doing _that_ …"

"What exactly does it involve?" Scotland asked.

"They take an entire continent under their control," France said. "They gain the people, the resources… and the power. They add each nation's individual power to their own. And once the entire continent has been taken, that power _doubles._ "

Everyone was silent.

"How many do you suppose they have?" Wales asked.

"There are fifty-four in the Union," Morocco said. "But two of them are suspended…"

"They were invited for _that_ meeting," Black interrupted. "White told me."

"Shit. Alright, fifty-four. How many decided to leave?"

"Ten."

"Right. They didn't agree, so there'd be forty-four, forty-three and a half if you count _him_."

"But the ten are missing," France said. "I have tried to contact Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Chad. None of them would respond."

"So we can assume that they have fifty-four," England said. "What about non-independent nations?"

"I can feel Réunion and Moyette slipping away," France said. "How could they…"

"I can sense the same with Saint Helena and the other two," England said. "But _how_ …?"

"Islands feel intimidated," Black explained. "Especially the small ones. If they sense what's happening, they're going to be tied into the continent."

"That's part of it," China said. "The more nations in the continent that are on one side, the easier it becomes for the rest."

…

Moldova had waited until he knew his brother thought he was asleep before he snuck out of bed. He easily crept towards the basement and tried the door.

Locked. And Romania was nowhere else in the house.

Moldova had learned how to pick locks a long time ago. It was Romania that taught him, should he ever feel that he was being held captive by Russia and wanted to escape. And now he was using that skill to find out what his brother was doing.

The door opened with a _click_ , and Moldova sighed in relief. He slowly and quietly opened the door, and carefully made his way down the stairs.

Only to find Romania wasn't there.

He looked around, sure that his brother wasn't anywhere else in the house. He _should_ have been there.

Moldova jumped when he heard a sound, like a heavy door being opened, and he hid behind one of Romania's bookshelves. He frowned when he saw Romania leaving from a secret room, rubbing his hands with something. He went over towards the sink and washed his hands.

Moldova could smell blood, and his eyes widened. What was his brother up to?

He saw Romania leaving the basement, but he paused at the door. Moldova hoped that Romania wouldn't come back down. He suddenly felt _very_ afraid of his brother.

The door was yanked open, and Romania left in a bit of a hurry. Moldova swallowed, before he turned to the secret door.

He knew that he only had a small window of opportunity.


	16. Chapter 15

**Thanks to Vanilla-Tsun, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Ellanore, snowgem33, ScandinavianTrash, SilverStarJones, Lovesbugsalot, pastaaddict, Cardfighter By Maple, Abc and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 15**

Moldova went to the wall where the secret door was, and after some prodding around he found it by pressing one of the bricks.

The door opened, revealing steps, and he rushed down it, making sure to close the door behind him. He needed to know what his brother was up to, and he knew that he would be in big trouble if his brother found him.

Finally he reached the bottom, and he gasped at the sight.

It was a torture chamber.

Why would Romania have a torture chamber, and why would he have it behind a secret door? And… why was there the smell of blood?

Moldova swallowed, hearing heavy breathing. He slowly walked into the torture chamber, afraid of what he might find.

His eyes widened when he saw someone tied to a table, covered in blood. His eyes were closed, but they snapped open when Moldova approached, leaving the smaller to jump in surprise.

The two stared at each other for a moment, before the bound man breathed deeply.

"You're _his_ brother, aren't you?" the man asked. "Did you come to torture me too?"

"Who are you?" Moldova asked.

"Côte d'Ivoire. But you might know me better as Ivory Coast."

"Why are you here?"

"Your brother was torturing me. Every time he comes here, he tortures me. He's got a microphone connected to wherever my friends are. He makes them listen to my screams. He wants them to join their group."

"No," Moldova said resolutely. "My brother wouldn't do that."

"Then explain why _I'm_ here."

Moldova hung his head, knowing that he couldn't explain it.

"Why?" Moldova whispered.

"We're at the forefront of a war."

Moldova yelped when he heard the voice and he spun around, eyes wide with fear. Romania walked closer, his eyes cold.

"And we need to get as much land in any way possible," Romania continued. "You should have stayed in bed, Alexandru."

"This is wrong," Moldova said, stepping back. "Why are you doing this? Why are you so mean?"

"This is what I'm really like," Romania said as he stopped right in front of Moldova.

Moldova attempted to run away, but Romania easily caught him, throwing him over his shoulder. Moldova was kicking, punching and screaming, but Romania seemed unbothered by it. Romania walked towards the door with the struggling Moldovan. He was halfway there when he stopped, turning to Côte d'Ivoire.

"I'll deal with you later," Romania said, and he continued on his way.

Moldova struggled as much as he could, and he was surprised by his brother's strength. And as his energy failed him, he stopped struggling and started crying.

He _knew_ something was wrong with Romania. He just knew it. Things would have been normal, had he not been curious about what his brother was doing in the basement.

What would Romania do to him now? Would he hurt him, just like he did with Côte d'Ivoire? For the first time in his life, Moldova was afraid of his big brother Romania, and he wanted to go to Russia for protection.

He yelped when he was suddenly lowered from Romania's shoulder, and he looked around to see his room. He turned his gaze to his brother's, seeing anger and hurt there.

"Stay," Romania said, before he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Moldova waited for a moment, before he went over to the door. He didn't hear a lock click, so Romania couldn't have locked the door.

He had to muffle a cry of anguish when he saw what Romania _did_ do. The knob was gone, leaving no way for Moldova to open the door.

'The window!'

He ran over towards the window, before he saw that there was no hope. It was merely glass in a frame, nothing more. There was no way to open the window, and Moldova had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to break the glass.

He was trapped.

…

"So this 'Continent Conquest' allows you to draw other nations in?" Russia asked.

"I'm guessing you would have liked to know that during the Cold War?" America said.

"Da. Would have been nice…"

"It's very complicated," France said. "It would take _years_ of planning…"

"I say we call Italy and Canada," America interrupted. "Tell them to come here."

"Perhaps we should only call one…" China said.

"No way! We outnumber them, and besides, there are others coming too, right?"

"Hai," Japan said. "But I don't think it's such a good…"

"Come on, it's a _great_ idea!"

"Bloody hell, are you even listening to us?!" England shouted.

Black just stood to the side, a disturbed expression on his face. He turned to Morocco.

"Are they normally like that?" he asked.

"Every meeting," she said. "You were smart, choosing to avoid them."

"Perhaps I should thank White sometime for taking all the recognition."

…

Sealand was still listening in, but when he heard the sounds of a fight he sighed, going back towards his bedroom. He knew that the fighting would last a while, so he might as well call Italy while the nations were distracted.

"What do you have to report?" Italy asked on the other end.

"Still no idea who the other nation is," Sealand said. "England and France went to Portugal and Spain. They discovered that Spain is dead, and Portugal is missing. Also, they're considering calling you and Canada to confront you, since _technically_ speaking you're supposed to be at this meeting."

"I see. Then I should probably avoid flying to Africa, just in case they go through with that plan. Also, do you think you can do some recruiting for me? Or at least help in kidnapping."

Sealand smirked.

"Who do you want?" he asked.

…

Latvia groaned when he woke up. He tried to remember what had happened. All he could recall was one of the micronations carrying a syringe…

"Poor little puppy," a voice sneered, and Latvia looked towards the speaker.

It was Belarus, with Kugelmugel standing right behind her. Belarus had one of her insane smiles on her face, and Latvia was instantly trembling.

"M-Miss B-Belarus," he stuttered. "I-I w-was j-just o-on m-my w-way t-to M-Mister R-Russia."

"Perhaps my act was a little too good," she said, speaking to Kugelmugel. "Everyone assumes I'm working for my brat."

Latvia looked at her with confusion, and she removed one of her knives.

"I don't work for Ivan," she said. "I want _nothing_ to do with Russia. All I want to do to him is kill him. Ukraine too."

She advanced on him, and Latvia started to crawl backwards.

"And I'm going to kill _you_ ," she said with a twisted grin on her face.

…

Russia frowned when he hung up the phone. He had tried calling Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, but none of them were answering. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Call Canada first, and then Italy," Russia said, looking towards England. "I'm going to see what is taking my Baltics so long."

"Are you sure that's a wise idea?" England asked.

Russia glared, and the Englishman shrunk back.

"Alright then," England said. "Be careful."

Russia gave one of his smiles, before walking towards the front door. He paused, before turning back.

"If Ukraine comes, tell her I have business to take care of," he said.

And then he made his way back to the door.

"You know," America commented, "if we were regular humans, this frequent flying would be really bad for our stomachs."

"Please," China scoffed. "I've seen you eat. I don't think that would be a problem for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you eat like a pig," France said. "And you grew up with England's cooking."

"Hey!" England shouted indignantly.

…

Romania returned to his subbasement. He was angry at Moldova for prying where he wasn't meant to pry, and now he had Côte d'Ivoire to take it out on.

And at the moment, he didn't care if another one of the Africans decided to join or not. At the moment, the only thing that mattered to him was his anger, and releasing it.

…

The five African nations were sitting on a private plane, along with Switzerland. No one dared to say a word. No one dared to fight.

DRC was still a little annoyed at the fact that they were using his country without permission, though Switzerland completely ignored him. Finally, the silence had to be shattered.

"What's this meeting about?" Ghana asked.

"There's an unknown nation that we need you to identify," Switzerland said. "We suspect he's African. There's also the chance that he might be a _former_ nation."

"And why should we help you with that?" Algeria asked.

"In case you hadn't noticed, you're _our_ territories now, and as such, you should assist us whenever we require that. Don't worry. We won't repeat the Scramble of Africa. This time, you'll be treated a lot better."

"But we're _still_ your slaves," Chad said.

"Not quite. Oh, and just so you know, you're allowed to have relationships with each other. I recall that being something that your colonisers always discouraged. And your relationships aren't necessarily limited to politics."

"Do _you_ have someone?" South Sudan asked.

"Indeed. South Korea."

There was silence for a few moments as the Africans tried to process that information.

"Do the traitors have anyone?" Algeria asked.

"Egypt is with Canada, Libya and Eritrea are together and Ethiopia is with Peru," Switzerland said.

There was silence once again.

"We've got some complicated stuff right there," Chad said.

"It's actually simpler than you think," Switzerland said, a smirk on his face.

…

Cameroon was sitting in his cell, rocking back and forth with his hands on his ears.

It would seem as though whoever was torturing Côte d'Ivoire was _very_ angry, for the screams seemed louder, more pain-filled, and they lasted far longer.

He was almost hoping for either Liechtenstein or Switzerland to come and ask him to join them. _Anything_ to get away from the screaming.

…

White, along with the rest of the Southern African nations, was flying on a private plane towards their meeting place in DRC. And naturally, all of them were nervous. It had only been a few days, and now they were forced to attend a meeting again.

White sincerely hoped that Black wasn't in trouble. He hadn't even called her yet, so she had no idea whether or not England accepted his words as truth.

They would need help as soon as possible.

…

Romano was on his way to the meeting, along with India and Poland. Italy had to stay behind, in case he received a call to attend the meeting at England's place where he would be confronted about all that was happening.

The reason why Romano was going was rather simple. He was analytical, and could see small things that other people didn't see. He was a kinesics expert, and he could pick up the faintest emotions from anyone.

Essentially, he was so good at reading even miniscule emotions, that he might as well be reading their minds.

He glanced towards Poland, who had a guidebook open in front of him. He was trying to learn as much about the other nations as possible, just in case there was something that they didn't know (which was pretty much impossible, but considering the surprise nation at England's…).

Romano felt India's arm around him tighten, and he turned to look at his lover, smiling at the other's tender look. Romano leaned up to kiss him, and he heard a sigh from Poland.

It was obvious that Poland was missing Italy, even though they had only just departed. Nobody enjoyed being a third wheel, after all.

…

Canada groaned, lacing up his boots. He had been called to a meeting at England's place, and he needed to be there as soon as possible. Of course, he knew that it would be night over there, and that they would be sleeping soon, but he was still asked to go as soon as possible.

He also knew that the meeting would involve a confrontation. Italy had already called him to warn him.

He felt Egypt's hand on his shoulder, and he nuzzled the hand with his cheek.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Egypt asked. "For support?"

Canada knew that it wasn't just moral support. He turned to Egypt, taking his hand. He lightly kissed each knuckle of the hand, earning a smile from Egypt.

"If you want," Canada said. "But I think it might be a good idea."

Egypt's smile widened, and he leaned down to kiss Canada on the lips. Canada accepted the kiss happily.

They broke apart, each with small smiles on their faces.

"Let's go deal with those idiots then," Egypt said.

Canada chuckled, before he stood. He grabbed his coat, which contained one of their buttons in the lining.

It would seem the next time of judgement was to begin.

…

Moldova was idly swinging his legs when the door opened. He looked up with wide eyes to see his brother. He would admit that Romania scared him now.

"We need to talk," Romania said, walking into the room. "About what you saw."

Moldova looked down, swallowing nervously.

"You're hurting him," he said. "Why?"

"A war's coming. I'm trying to get him and his friends on our side."

Moldova looked up with teary eyes.

"By hurting him?!" he asked. "Please. Don't listen to your boss. We both know that you're not strong enough to start a war."

"I am not doing this for a human boss," Romania said. "I haven't been listening to a human for a long time. My 'bosses' are nations, and we're equal partners. They don't force me to do things that I don't want to. Unlike others in the past."

"But why are you doing this?"

Romania sighed.

"Because I want to cause pain and suffering," Romania said. "Even though it's been choreographed, I've gone through enough. The Ottomans, Russia… I knew that if I let things run their course, I'll be significantly weaker. So when I got an offer to join a group that fooled the world into believing they were something they were not, I had to find out more. And to hear that they would let me keep my identity – _all_ of my identity – it was an offer I couldn't pass up."

"But you're hurting others!" Moldova protested.

"That has always been something that I enjoy, little brother. You were born and grew up in a new age – I in an older age. But another new age is dawning. And if the other nations won't submit to us, then they _will_ be hurt. Or worse."

Moldova didn't like this side of his brother, and looked away.

"What are you going to do to me?" Moldova asked.

"I wouldn't hurt _you_ ," Romania said. "You're my little brother. But I can't risk you getting hurt in the war in any way. The safest place for you to be is with me."

"Safe?! You're torturing someone in the basement!"

" _Sub_ basement," Romania corrected. "And you really have no choice. I'll let you out. Eventually."

And Romania left the room, leaving Moldova alone. The younger nation hugged himself as the tears fell.

"I want my big brother back."

…

Italy was calmly walking towards Portugal's room. He had a few hours before he would need to fly to England's for the 'meeting', and he would spend as much time as possible furthering their plans. The ETA was based on Canada's time of arrival, and Italy would arrive just a little before Canada in order to create one last illusion. They couldn't let the others know yet that they knew that they knew.

They would need to see exactly how much they knew first, before they acted. And they knew that they were paranoid. Wy and Hutt River had informed him that Australia and New Zealand had received a call from England to go there as soon as possible, and when asked why, the Brit merely said that it was an issue too sensitive to discuss over the phone. The two micronations were on their way as well.

Speaking of which, he would need to ask North Korea how far the hacking was going. They had a few communications' satellites, but they needed more.

Italy smirked, removing a key before he unlocked Portugal's room.

The other European was sitting in the corner, away from the bed. He was curled up, and Italy could see that he had been crying. The weight of the situation was not lost on the Portuguese.

Portugal looked up with a glare on his face, and Italy smirked.

"Aw, don't look at me like that," Italy said, stepping closer. "I came to discuss business with you."

Portugal flinched, and he looked away.

"You expect me to create more Bonds," he said. "How? You can't force love and hate."

"No, but you _can_ create an environment for them," Italy said. "And do you want to know something about these Bonds? The more you have, the easier it is to forge more."

"What do you mean?"

"Simple. In an environment of hate, then it's easier to forge more. You just need to give someone a little push. Remind them about the things done to them, and the people that did that to them. Give them an offer they couldn't refuse."

"Revenge."

"Exactly. You've seen the wars. You've read the history books. How much hate do you think there would be?"

Portugal looked up, his eyes wide.

"Love is harder," Portugal said.

"True. But if there's an environment of hate, then love will naturally try to balance it out. All it takes is one little spark. And when love and hate work together, they're unstoppable."

"But I fail to see how _everyone_ in your group is so hateful."

"True. You didn't know that there's a third Bond, did you?"

Portugal looked towards Italy's wrist, where a yellow ribbon appeared.

"Desire. The desire for bloodshed. The desire for power. The desire for status and recognition. That is the third Bond we share. And you share in that Bond as well."

"And how do you figure that?"

Italy chuckled.

"You wish to protect Macau, and all your former colonies. Look at your wrist, if you don't believe me."

Portugal did, and he gasped when a yellow ribbon appeared.

"Their safety rests in my hands. As much as you hate it, you're one of us."

 **Next, we have** _ **another**_ **flashback chapter. This one will cover India, Liechtenstein and the Koreas.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Thanks to Jinx13GXA, TrefleV, Time flower, magicflyingmintbunnies, Vanilla-Tsun, pastaaddict and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Another flashback chapter. This one will cover India, Liechtenstein and the Koreas, and to a lesser extent Seborga. And we also get a glimpse of their opinions regarding the first two World Wars.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 16**

Italy had been surprised to see a smaller version of himself, though the other had similarities to Romano as well. It was after the Conference of Vienna, which had resulted in the unification of Italy, except for one place that was forgotten.

That place was now his little brother, Seborga.

Interesting.

…

India was unhappy with his fate as the 'crown jewel of the British Empire'. He wanted to be his own entity, but he said nothing. He had seen how the stronger nations were with those that tried to oppose them. They were punished, and sometimes the punishment was far too severe for the crime.

India was upset that his freedom had been taken away by the arrogant European, but there was nothing that he could do. He couldn't let his people suffer any more than they already did. But still the urge remained to do something about it.

He didn't appreciate the Europeans treating him like some sort of prize, and then there was the matter of how the Europeans looked down on him. He hated it. He hated just how arrogant they were.

He had gone out to the garden to relax. He missed his sunny home. In England, it was always bleak and dismal.

He turned around when he heard a leaf crunch, and he moulded his face into a smile for the young colony.

"Hello Canada," India said. "Care to join me?"

The colony nodded, and he slowly went to sit down next to India. The older nation smiled, knowing that the younger was quite shy.

He noticed the Canadian had a black thread wrapped around his left hand, and he was worried that someone did that to him. He also noticed that there was a yellow thread around the right wrist.

"Do you want me to remove those?" India asked.

Canada shook his head and placed his hands in his lap.

"It's alright," Canada said. "Hey, India, can I ask something?"

"Sure."

"Are you happy here?"

India stared at the other for a moment before he sighed, shaking his head.

"No, little one," India said. "I'm not happy. Far from it."

Canada nodded, as though he had confirmed something to himself. India frowned in confusion.

"Is there something wrong?" India asked.

"If you were given the opportunity to be one of the strongest nations in the world," Canada said, "would you take it?"

India blinked, before he sighed.

"Maybe," India said. "I don't know. What brought this on?"

"Because I'm going to be one of the strongest someday, and I wanted to know if you would like to join me."

"Why not become the _strongest_?" India asked, indulging the child.

"Because no _one_ can be _the_ strongest. It will only be you against the rest of the world, and everyone's going to want the seat of power. But if you're only _one_ of the strongest, with the others all being your friends, then no one will fight you."

"And what if your 'friends' become ambitious?"

"That's why there are precautions in place. None of us would betray any of the others. It would be detrimental to your health."

India paused. Something about that statement had made it seem as though it wasn't hypothetically. He turned to look Canada in the eyes, and he saw something that he had never seen there before. Confidence. Far too much to be normal or safe.

"What's going on?" India asked.

"I'll ask again," Canada said, a little louder. "If you are given an opportunity to be one of the strongest nations in the world, would you take it? To be the one on top for a change? To not have to listen to anyone else's orders if you don't feel like it? To be the only one in charge of the wellbeing of your people? And to not even have to listen to a human ruler?"

India's eyes widened at the last one.

"How is that possible?" India asked.

Yes, he had been upset with his rulers' choices in the past, this setup with England being one of them. Canada smirked.

"There are other things I can show you," Canada said. "I've made friends – friends outside England's sphere. They showed me a lot of things, and they learned from nations even older than them. All it takes is enough hatred."

"I… I don't hate anyone," India said quickly. "I don't even think I'm capable of that."

"Yes you do. And yes you are." Canada raised his left hand, where the thread was still tied. "This tells me so. It's telling me that you have a lot of hatred in your heart. Mine is trying to reach out to yours. It wants to connect the hatred in our hearts."

India abruptly stood, disturbed by the colony's comments. He gave Canada one last look, who had a knowing look on his own face, before he retreated back into England's house.

In the next year, India observed Canada closely. He would be the same shy, meek person he had assumed he was around others, but when it was just the two of them, Canada showed his louder, more confident self.

And somehow, he kept being drawn by the Canadian's presence, especially when he was feeling angry or… hateful.

He had told no one about that conversation, knowing that no one would believe him, and he had a feeling that Canada wouldn't take that lying down. The younger might be smaller than him, but ever since it had been revealed, he could sense the maliciousness dwelling in Canada's heart.

And as he was exposed to Canada more and more, he thought he could feel it in his own heart growing. It frightened him at first, but eventually he started to become thrilled by it.

And when he finally agreed to join Canada and his friends, he was sure that he could feel something akin to pure, twisted joy.

…

"I hate them," Italy said. "I really, _really_ hate them."

Poland sighed, patting Italy's shoulder as the latter took a large gulp of vodka. The others were upset as well.

They were at Switzerland's house, and the Swiss made sure to keep outsiders away. The time was World War 1. And Italy was upset that the glory of something called a 'Great War' was already taken. They had been planning a war of this scale for _centuries_ , and then this spontaneous mistake came up because the rest of Europe was eager to take their new, large amount of weapons out for a test drive.

The Industrial Revolution had offered the opportunity to end hunger, but instead the focus of mass production had gone to creating weapons. And just like children with a shiny new toy, the nations and their people wanted a chance to try it out.

The only positive thing about this war was the research opportunity. They had learned all the do's and don'ts and would make sure that they didn't make the same mistakes.

…

Switzerland sighed as he went to check on Liechtenstein. He had found the poor girl on the street, and while he wasn't fond of too many people, he didn't have the heart to simply allow someone like that to simply starve.

He was just about to knock on her door when he heard paper being ripped. He frowned, before he opened the door.

He saw Liechtenstein sitting on the bed with a newspaper torn to shreds around her, and she still had the larger pieces in her hands. She blinked, startled at Switzerland's sudden arrival.

"O-oh, Switzerland," Liechtenstein said. "Um, have you ever heard of knocking?"

"What's that you're tearing up?" he asked.

She looked towards the newspaper and glared.

"America's president says they're doing the best they can to fix this Depression," Liechtenstein said. "So is England's prime minister. But _they're_ the ones that caused this in the first place. The big nations doing what they want, and then it's us little nations that suffer. I _hate_ being a small nation. Everyone's always stepping on us, and some won't even acknowledge us. And then we need to rely on _them_ for our survival. I _hate_ it! I hate being small! I hate relying on others! And I _hate_ the fact that because _they_ messed up, _I_ have to suffer!"

Switzerland said nothing as Liechtenstein ranted. He was actually surprised. When he had found her, he thought her to be quiet and a little meek. But now, he supposed it was the hunger and physical exhaustion that he had seen. Because she certainly wasn't anything like how he had painted her.

He smirked, knowing that he had found a potential ally, but he quickly hid it.

"Would you like some chocolate?" Switzerland asked. "It'll help you calm down."

She nodded, before she continued tearing the newspaper. Switzerland left, and immediately made his way to his phone.

"Ve, this is Italy~. Do you want to have some pasta? Let's be friends."

"It's me," Switzerland said, smirking a little.

"Oh thank god. I think I'm going to go crazy with all that. So, what is it?"

"I think I've found a new ally. Her name is Liechtenstein. She's a small nation, but I've seen a lot of anger in her." Switzerland looked down at his left hand. "My thread is trying to pull her closer."

"I see. Do you think the anger can turn to hate?"

"I'm sure of it. It's not going to be hard."

"Then go ahead."

Switzerland hung up the phone, and he first went to get some of his famous Swiss chocolates (Depression or not, he wouldn't go without his Swiss chocolate) before returning to Liechtenstein's room.

This time he knocked, and after a moment of silence he entered.

He saw Liechtenstein lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling despondently. He placed the box of chocolates next to her hand.

"You say that you hate being a small nation," Switzerland said. "But what would you do if you got the opportunity to be a larger nation?"

"It's impossible," Liechtenstein said.

"Not if your size increases because of the spoils of war."

She sat up, looking at him with a blank look that still asked 'what the hell are you talking about?'. Switzerland took a deep breath.

"I have allies," Switzerland said, "and we've been planning on taking over the world in one big war for centuries. Something that will make the Great War seem puny in comparison. I've spoken to one of the leaders. He says that if you're interested, you're more than welcome to join."

Liechtenstein perked up.

"And… I will get more land?"

"You're entitled to some of Germany and Austria's land," Switzerland said. "And anyone else's land you want."

"Czechoslovakia?"

"Sure. Why not? There's just one little catch."

"And that is?"

"You need to pretend to be something you're not until the time is right," Switzerland said. "It will be better if you assume a persona that no one would think as strong, like our leaders. And your face and voice will get away with that one, no offence."

"None taken," she said. She changed her tone a little. "Is this okay?"

"Sure. So, are you in?"

She smirked.

"What do you think?" she asked, taking the box of chocolate. "Is that why you helped me?"

"Nein. I only thought you needed help, and found that you'd actually make a good addition to our group."

Liechtenstein popped one of the chocolates in her mouth, before looking down at the box.

"How can you afford a luxury like this, anyway?" she asked.

"Simple. Second economy."

…

The group had gone to Switzerland's house, and they each had different forms of alcohol in front of them.

"So," Switzerland said, turning to Italy, "what's this 'alliance' with Germany and Japan?"

"Have you seen their political climates?" Italy asked. "Germany's especially. That new boss of his… he's going to start another World War. And I want to see what it looks like to be one of the instigators."

"So you have a front row seat for this new one," Romano said. "It's a good thing that I don't have to pretend to hate that blond jerk. He looks just like…"

"Si," Italy said. "I know. But it's worth it to annoy him. And Feliks, you should keep an eye out. I heard that Germany's planning to attack you with Russia."

Poland nodded, taking a swig of vodka.

"Lithuania already called to tell me as well," Poland said. "Though I pretended to ignore him and not take the warnings seriously. I'll take a dive."

"Are you sure?" Canada asked.

"Tak."

"We need to test our true army's abilities sometime," India pointed out.

"Matt, you're going to do that. Make sure that England takes the credit, though. It's easier to make them think that an already-existing empire is so strong than having them suspect an underling."

"Of course," Canada said. "But I won't do it for every battle. I'll simply look for an opportunity like Vimy Ridge."

Italy burst out laughing.

"Oh, that is good," Italy said. "At least that gave us a hint as to how others would react when they have to face against the _real_ us. If everyone reacts like Germany, they'd be too scared to fight us."

The others exchanged a glance.

"What do you mean?" Canada asked.

"Well, he still has nightmares about that time – oh, and Germany talks in his sleep, by the way – and he's actually put you on his list of nations he doesn't want as an enemy."

"Feliciano," Poland said, "how do you know that he talks in his sleep?"

The atmosphere was tense for a few moments. No one else spoke.

"I had to give him the impression that I'm annoyingly clingy," Italy said.

"You've been sleeping with him, haven't you?" Poland said.

"If you mean sleeping in the same bed, yes," Italy said. "No other way. I refuse to let him touch me like that."

"But you're still sleeping in the same bed as him," Poland said.

"Most of the time he's already asleep when I get there," Italy said nonchalantly.

Poland climbed on Italy's lap and pulled the curl, making the other cry out.

"I think I'm going to need to remind you who you belong to," Poland said.

"Please," Switzerland said. "If you need to do that, go to the guest room. _Not_ in my living room."

"And not where _we_ can see this," Romano said, looking just a little disgusted.

…

Italy hummed as he explored the Japanese's house. He knew that Japan was keeping the territories he had won in the war, and he wanted to see two in particular.

He finally found them sitting across from each other. When they saw him they immediately scrambled to their feet, the Northern brother standing in front of the Southern brother.

"Who are you?" North Korea asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Ciao," Italy said. "My name is Italy Veneziano, or if you would prefer, North Italy. My southern counterpart is Italy Romano."

"You're a nation divided by north and south?" South Korea asked.

Italy looked at the two curiously.

"You've been protecting your brother," Italy said, gaze directed at the Northern brother. "Taking punishments…"

"How do you know?" North Korea snapped.

"I can see it in your eyes. The only thing I can't understand is why. From what I've heard, the southern one is the better fighter."

The two brothers exchanged a glance.

"Where did you hear that?" North asked.

"A little birdy told me," Italy said. "Well?"

North Korea narrowed his eyes.

"I have a better pain tolerance," North said. "I can handle punishment better than Yong can."

"That's all I wanted to know," Italy said. "It might do you good. I hear Russia's planning to take you away."

"Where did you hear that?" South asked.

"I have my sources. But I want to know if you're willing to join me in the next war."

"What do you mean?" North asked.

"Well, it's a war we've been planning for centuries. We've been trying to find the best allies. We think the two of you could prove useful. Well?"

"And why should we?" South asked.

"Because we're going to bring in a new world order," Italy said. "And we would help you get revenge over Japan, China, and any other nation you can think of. We'll help you completely destroy them."

North and South Korea exchanged a glance.

"This is a generous offer," North said. "But why have you come to _us_ with it?"

"Because we need someone this far east," Italy said. "India is good, but not far enough. And we need a distraction. You see, when there are two counterparts of a nation, everyone is suspicious, and people will try to figure out which side should go. You need to pretend as though you hate each other, and that the tensions between you are high. You need to pull attention away from the rest of us."

"There's just one problem," South said. "There's no way we can pull off hating each other."

"War changes people. And Russia has a bad way of dealing with others. I'm sure that if you pretend to listen to what he has to say you can convince the world. Point is, you need to be complete opposites."

"What about you and your brother?" North asked.

"Romano pretends to be this grumpy, rude person that pushes everyone away, even his own fratello. And me…" He completely changed his tone when he spoke again. "Ve, I'm the Italy that's always cheerful. The one that always has a white flag ready." And his voice changed back. "See? It's easy."

"And how long will we have to do this?" North asked.

"Until we feel the time is right."

"And what will happen if we lose that war?" South asked.

"We won't. Trust me. So, are you in or not?"

"And you guarantee that we will crush Japan and China?" North asked.

"And anyone else you can think of."

The two brothers exchanged a look.

"Fine," South said. "We're in."


	18. Chapter 17

**Thanks to SilverStarJones, Layla, Cardfighter By Maple, missycanucks, ScandinavianTrash, juja0010, topaz3, magicflyingmintbunnies, snowgem33, pastaaddict and Vanilla-Tsun for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 17**

All things considered, it wasn't too surprising when Italy arrived first, though Canada messaged to say that he was almost there. Just ten more minutes.

Most of the other nations that they had called had already arrived and were waiting to hear about what was going on.

"Ciao~" Italy greeted. "So, does anyone want pasta?"

"No, Italy," England sighed. "We're just waiting for Canada. There's something that I want to ask the two of you."

Italy cocked his head to the side, before shrugging and taking a seat. England glanced over towards Wales.

"This isn't something we need to discuss around children," England said. "Why don't you take the micronations out for a while?"

Wales nodded, and Italy inwardly smirked.

They heard as Sealand whined about being left out of it, but the three micronations went along with it. Hutt River and Wy were even eager to get out of the house.

But Sealand knew full well that he had to go, and was actually eager. He could do something to help his allies, and which would bring him one step closer to being a real nation. Besides, one of their leaders was there to see how things would turn out.

There was no real reason for the micronations to stay behind.

…

Russia frowned at the sight that met him. It was a similar sight to one he had seen in Riga and Tallinn. And now he had to see it again in Vilnius.

The suitcase looked as though it was still being packed, but its owner was draped across the bed next to it, pale and stiff. But he hadn't been dead for too long.

Russia turned him around to see Lithuania's blank eyes staring up at him, a gaping hole in his chest. Nearby, Russia could see what remained of the Lithuanian's heart.

It was as France had described. No sign of life, disconnected. And there was no sign of Lithuania healing himself. He should have been healed and resurrected by now.

Russia looked up to see a knife imbedded into the wall. A knife that had been left there, specifically for him. A knife that was covered in the Lithuanian's blood. A knife that he recognised well.

Belarus.

He had known for years that his sister had gone insane, but he had never suspected that it would reach this level. He hoped that it wasn't just some elaborate scheme to get him to marry her. Because this scheme was sick and twisted.

Russia looked back at the body. Toris, Eduard and Ravis… All three of them were dead. And he could tell that all three of them had died brutal deaths.

He would have to accept that they were standing at the frontier of another war. One that had more on the line. At least four nations had been killed, and several were missing. And none of the deaths so far had happened on the battlefields.

It had happened in their own homes. In the places where they were meant to be safe.

And _that_ was the part that disturbed Russia the most. The fact that no one was safe in their own home.

And England had invited Canada and Italy for a confrontation.

He knew that England and the others would have the advantage of numbers, but he had a feeling that that wouldn't be enough. Something about how meticulous this was and how it all was happening under their noses told him that Italy and Canada would have a way to ignore the number factor.

And there was no time for him to go back to England before it was too late.

So he pulled out his cell phone, hoping that at least one of those nations would listen to his advice.

…

Canada sighed in relief when he finally reached England's house. Egypt was behind him, a small smirk on his face.

The two of them quickly composed their faces into their usual masks, before Canada rang the doorbell.

As expected, England was the one to answer. He frowned when he saw Egypt.

"Gupta?" England asked. "What are you doing here?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And why are you two together?"

Canada and Egypt exchanged a look before Canada smiled softly.

"Um, it's because we're kind of _together_ ," Canada said.

England frowned in confusion, before his eyes widened in understanding.

"You two?" he asked. "When? How?"

"Suez Canal," Egypt said. "Now may we come in?"

England shook himself out of his surprised stupor before he nodded, allowing them to come inside. Canada smiled as Egypt smirked internally.

One of the greatest tricks was to catch the enemy off-guard. Having your supposed-to-be father figure finding out that you were dating someone without his knowledge tended to be a good way.

The two of them went into the living room, where other nations were waiting. Most seemed surprised to see Egypt and Canada together, while Japan, China, France and America were surprised to see Egypt in general.

No one was sitting on the couch next to Italy, a fact that the other pretended to be oblivious to. He smiled when the new arrivals went to sit next to him, though the other two knew it to be a smirk.

"Alright," England said, "We called you here to discuss a very important accusation against you three."

"Ve, what accusation?" Italy asked, smile dropping and being replaced by a confused expression.

"A conspiracy," China said. "One to start World War Three."

The nations that hadn't been informed prior were shocked. Italy, Canada and Egypt feigned confusion.

"Who would make such an accusation?" Canada asked.

"Save it," America said. "I did some digging. Turns out, several of my CIA and NSA agents I've sent to Canada are missing. Now what did you do to them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Al."

"Just answer me this," France said. "Did you kill Spain?"

"No," Italy said, though his face was relaxed. "Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela did. Romano made Portugal watch it."

France looked appalled while England, China and Netherlands looked enraged.

"What have you done with him?" England demanded.

By now, Canada and Egypt had stopped pretending to be ignorant, and were watching with calm expressions.

"Don't worry about it," Italy said. "Portugal is safe. Unlike most of you, he's actually useful to us."

"So it's true," Japan said. "You are planning to start another World War. But what did you do to Germany-san?"

"He's still alive. Barely. Partitions can be a painful process. Then one of our newer allies decided to have a little fun with him."

"'Newer' allies?" Scotland asked. "What's that even supposed to mean?"

"You think we're going to do something like this without thinking about others that we might want on our team?" Italy asked sarcastically. "Because there are always those willing to join."

"Like Mexico," America said.

"Yep," Canada said. "It wasn't hard to convince her. Just promise your downfall and she's all for it."

"Why you…"

"There's also someone else you should keep in mind," Canada said. "Tell me, how's the Southern Pride thing going?"

America paled.

"That's impossible," America said. "She's supposed to be _dead_."

"But she _isn't_ ," Italy said. "And she is out for your blood."

America took a wary step back.

"But seriously though," Italy said, " _who_ told you about us? I would _love_ to know."

"Of course you do," England said. "But if you think you're going to get that information out of us, forget it."

Italy shrugged.

"Oh well," Italy said. "I guess we'll find out _eventually_. There's no way for you to keep secrets from us. We always find out what we want."

England narrowed his eyes.

"You knew that we knew before you even came here," England said. "You have a spy, don't you?"

"Nope," Italy said. "It's just that, well, after observing you all for hundreds of years, you're all just so _predictable_."

"And you _aren't_?" France spat.

"Take a look at everything that's happened in the last few days, and you tell me."

Everyone was silent.

"I say we tie 'em up," Australia said. "Come on. We outnumber them. It shouldn't be hard."

"Did you think we didn't know how many of you were here before we came?" Italy asked.

"What else did you know?" England asked.

"That Russia went to the Baltics to see what's keeping them," Italy said. "He probably found all three of their corpses by now."

Ukraine gasped, her hand finding its way to her mouth.

"How could you?" Hungary asked.

"In case you hadn't noticed, this is war," Italy said. "So, anything else you want to know?"

"What happened to the Nordics?" England asked.

"Finland's part of us," Italy said, counting down on his fingers, "Iceland's captured, Norway's dissolved and Sweden and Denmark are dead."

"What?!" England asked, stepping back.

Everyone looked horrified at the latest news.

"If you think that we'd let 'friendships' slide, then I have news for you," Italy said. "Every one of us only made friends with the rest of you because it was to our advantage. But there's no reason for the farce anymore."

"Why did you come?" China asked. "You already knew what you were getting yourselves into. So why come?"

Italy smirked.

"Because we're here to officially announce the start of World War Three," Italy said. "Soon, the world will belong to the members of Amodi, and there is nothing you can do to escape your fate."

Italy looked towards Egypt, and the other nodded his head before he snapped his fingers. The three members of 'Amodi' disappeared without a trace.

"What just happened?" France asked.

"Blast," England said. "I forgot that Egypt can use magic."

"So what now?" New Zealand asked.

"Now, we alert our governments. We need to fortify our countries, and ourselves."

"I say we go and crush them," America said. "I mean, we know who they are."

"Not wise," China said. "They will expect an attack. And besides, we don't know where they are."

"China's right," England said. "They wouldn't be stupid enough to stay in their own houses. They'll have a base of operations."

"So, is this our base of operations right now?" America asked.

"For now. I'll see if I can make other arrangements."

"We need to tell Russia about this," Ukraine said. "I only hope my brother isn't _too_ angry."

"And in the meantime," Turkey said, "you can tell us who else is involved."

…

Wales watched the micronations with a smile on his face. So young, so innocent. Even Hutt River, who was a teenager, had the air of innocence.

The four of them were strolling towards the park, with Wy and Sealand joking around and playing with each other. Not many people were around once they neared the park. Only a few tourists.

"So," Hutt River said, "what do you think about this war? Whose side do you want to be on?"

Wales sighed.

"Personally," Wales said, "I would prefer not to pick a side, but I would probably be dragged in with Arthur a…"

He cut himself off. Hutt River wasn't supposed to know about the impending war. And he wasn't supposed to ask him about it.

He looked towards Wy and Sealand to see that the two of them were also looking at him expectantly. That was when he remembered one of the essentials of war.

Spies.

"You're working for them, aren't you?" Wales asked, taking a step back.

He was suddenly tackled from behind, a hand placed on his mouth.

"Very clever," a Spanish-accented voice said. "But you're a little late."

Looking around, Wales saw that the 'tourists' were other nations. Nations that were apparently part of Italy's group.

He started to struggle, before Hutt River walked closer.

"Don't worry," Hutt River said. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Si," the Spanish voice said. "After all, you're one of us."

Wales frowned, and one of the 'tourists' walked closer. His eyes widened when he realised that it was North Korea.

"You've been suppressed for a long time, haven't you, Wales?" North Korea asked. "Overshadowed by all of your brothers. Everyone knows Scotland, Ireland and especially England. But ask them who Wales is and they'll think you're talking about the mammal."

Wales closed his eyes. He tried not to listen, but it tugged at old scars.

Someone else came in sight, and he recognised Peru.

"You've been abused by the very person you call 'brother'," Peru said. "Your language was stolen from you. Your lands. Your people. How long has England spent trying to break you?"

Someone pushed their hand up his shirt and he yelped. The hand rested on an old scar, one that he thought had faded, but was now tender to the touch.

"How many more of _these_ did England give you?" the unidentified Spanish voice whispered. "And what about your other brothers?"

"Calm, gentle Wales," North Korea said. "How many times did your brothers take advantage of that?"

Wales was trembling by now, but he couldn't quite identify the emotion that caused it to happen. He looked down and noticed that there were black ribbons tied around the other nations' left hands.

"How long have you gone without your freedom?" Peru asked. "How long have you been forced to suffer because of them?"

"Wouldn't you like to be free?" the unidentified voice asked. "Wouldn't you like independence?"

The hand was removed from his mouth, wiping away tears that he hadn't even realised were falling. He sobbed, and someone hugged him from behind.

"It's alright," the voice behind him whispered. "We know how you feel. We've had our languages crushed as well. We've had our cultures destroyed. We've had our freedoms taken by others. We've lost our place on the world stage."

"But we will change that," Peru said. "We're going to be the ones on top this time."

"And we want you to join us," North Korea said.

"We will help you have your revenge on your brothers," the unidentified voice said.

"We'll help make them pay for every bruise," Peru said.

"Every insult," North Korea said.

"And every other act of cruelty against you," the unidentified voice said.

Wales couldn't think straight. As they kept speaking, more and more memories resurfaced. Losing his independence to England. Being told that he was no longer allowed to speak Welsh, _his_ language. Being called stupid countless times. Being punched or kicked every time the English words failed him. Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland merely watching as all of this was happening.

He felt the rage. He felt the hate. And he wanted to join them. He already knew that they would win, so why not be on the winning side? Why not go against his brothers?

He looked down to see a black ribbon being tied around his left hand, but it wasn't being tied by the nations surrounding him.

It would seem that they had unknown magic on their side. And Wales wanted to learn more.

…

"Algeria!"

"Mauritania!"

The two female nations embraced each other when the five that had been held prisoner entered the meeting room. Some of the other Africans went to greet the other four as well.

"Where were you?" Niger asked. "Where are the others?"

"They're making them listen to Ivory Coast's screams as he's being tortured," Chad said. "Everyone's locked in a soundproofed room with an intercom."

The others looked horrified when they heard the news.

"Alright everyone, sit down!" Poland shouted.

Everyone scrambled for a seat. The Amodi nations sat at the head of the table, and India was fiddling with a computer.

"Alright," Poland said. "So it's come to our attention that there's a nation that told England about us. England then went to tell America, Russia, and all those others. Now, here's the thing. We don't know _who_ the nation is. He… _slipped_ out of our notice. But we have a feeling that at least one of you would know who it is."

A photo appeared on the whiteboard, and most of the nations wore expressions of confusion. But there were a few whose eyes widened as they recognised the nation presented to them.

"Now, is no one going to tell us who this is?" Poland asked as he scanned the room. So did the others. "No one at all?"

When he was met by nothing but silence, Poland turned to Romano.

"Well?" he asked.

"The southern half of the continent knows who he is," Romano said. "South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Angola."

"What?!"

"I've never seen him before."

"Are you crazy?"

"How would he even know that?"

"Shut up!" Poland shouted. "Well then. You eight will stay behind to tell us more about your little _friend_. The rest of you are free to go."

Angola had tried to slip out with the rest of the crowd, but India was waiting at the door and grabbed her before she could make an escape. The others merely sat there with expressions of dread on their faces.

"Now," Poland said, "are you going to talk or do we have to _make_ you talk?"

…

Wales returned to England's house with the three micronations in tow. He felt different, but a good kind of different. He couldn't explain it.

The others had told him all about their plans and what he was supposed to do, and he agreed with them. He thought that he should feel bad about betraying his brothers, but every time a thought like that crossed his mind a memory surfaced. A memory about being abused by the others, especially England.

He went over towards Northern Ireland and sat down.

"So," he said, "what happened?"

Northern Ireland sighed before he took a big gulp of his beer.

"We've confirmed that at least six nations have been killed," North said. "World War Three is also official. And they call themselves 'Amodi'."

Wales sighed, and he briefly wondered if he could go through with killing or helping them kill his brothers.

And a little voice inside his head told him 'yes'.

 **I had actually forgotten about Wales and all the crap he's gone through. Then a few weeks ago I started looking up fanfiction involving Wales and I was like 'oh yeah, I forgot about it'. And in hindsight I realised that he would have made a good addition, especially considering his proximity to England. So I started thinking of this scene. There were other nations posing as tourists, but the three that he acknowledged remained his focal point, as though the others didn't matter. And then he didn't even know who the third person was.**

 **I originally wanted Ireland to be the Kirkland brother Amodi approached, but then I figured that Wales would be better, since Wales wasn't as vocal about his hatred for England as Ireland or Scotland, so it would be more unexpected for Wales to join. And you know that expression 'still waters run deep'? In Afrikaans, we say something like 'still waters, deep ground, underneath the devil turns.' So Wales was the perfect choice.**

 **And Angola knows about Black because during the Angolan Civil War, the NP took one side and the ANC took another.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Thanks to Time Turner, Vanilla-Tsun, Eternal Nexus Warrior, juja0010, Cardfighter By Maple, snowgem33, topaz3, ScandinavianTrash, magicflyingmintbunnies and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 18**

Canada, Italy and Egypt returned to their home base.

"Do you think it was a good idea?" Egypt asked. "They now have confirmation."

"Sooner than we would have liked," Italy said. "But things had already been set into motion. Too bad we didn't learn who that other nation is. But we at least managed to do what we originally meant to do."

He hadn't been bluffing when he said they could predict every nation's actions. They knew that the nations would try to get the micronations out of the house during the confrontation, and they knew that Wales would be the one to take them. And if not, then Sealand would have insisted. The point was to buy enough time for the others to recruit Wales.

San Marino knocked before entering the room. Italy rolled his eyes.

"Sure, _now_ you knock," Italy muttered.

San Marino rolled his eyes as well.

"Wales is on board," San Marino said. "And Poland reported that they've narrowed down nations that would know who our mystery nation is."

"Excellent," Italy said. "Everyone is so predictable, si?"

"Indeed," Egypt said. "So, who are you going after next?"

"Someone in South America," Italy said. "There weren't really any of those nations present at England's little meeting. They tend to be forgotten. Sound familiar?"

"Oui," Canada said. "Who should we go for?"

"What about those three tiny nations north of Brazil?" Egypt suggested. "Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana?"

"Oui," Canada said. "That way we can hurt France as well."

Italy smirked.

"Alright then," he said, before turning to San Marino. "Tell the South Americans of their little mission. Tell them it's 'kill'."

San Marino nodded and left them alone.

"Should we call the two Koreas back?" Egypt asked.

"No," Italy said. "Let them keep an eye on things for now. The other nations will be raising their security. It'll be easier having someone already on the inside."

"Okay," Canada said. "You're the boss."

Canada and Egypt exchanged a glance, and Italy sighed.

"Go on," he said, waving them off. "Just close and lock the door."

…

North and South Korea had rented a hotel room in London, and North was sitting in front of his laptop while South was lounging around.

"Any luck?" South asked.

"Some," North said. "I managed to hack into MI6."

"That's progress," South said. "We need to have access to _all_ of the communications' networks in the world, and anything high ranking is definitely a priority."

North nodded, before his phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, hey Salang."

South rolled his eyes, knowing _exactly_ who was on the other end of the phone.

"I'm in England," North said. "Italy hasn't called us back yet. Yeah, I'm here with South."

"I'll give you two some privacy," South said, before he left the room.

He wanted to call Switzerland, but he knew that the other was busy at the moment. He really missed the Swiss man's affections.

He decided to call later that night, and hopefully they could make some sort of arrangement.

…

They had brought the eight African nations to a smaller room, where they were nervously shifting.

"So, you know our little whistle blower," Poland said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Angola said.

"Please," Romano scoffed. "Do any of you know what kinesics is?"

"Body language," Switzerland said. "And Romano is an expert. Even the tiniest little emotion is clear to him. Makes it difficult to play poker against him."

"There is yet to be a poker face that I can't read," Romano said.

"Focus," Poland said. "Anyway, last chance. Either you speak now, or we'll make you speak."

"If you think we're scared of torture, think again," Mozambique said.

"Actually," Poland said, "torture is something we reserve for _fun_. Something that we use as _punishment_. Torture and interrogation don't go together. You'd say _anything_ to get us to stop."

The Africans exchanged a glance.

"Then how are you planning on making us talk?" South Africa asked.

Poland smirked, before he walked over to a corner of the room where crates were hidden under tarps. He pulled the tarps aside, and India went over to help.

The Africans' eyes widened when bottles of vodka were placed in front of them.

"'In vino veritas'," Romano said.

"You each will be drinking a bottle," Poland said. "We'll ask again after the first bottle. If you try to avoid drinking, then we'll simply set off one of our bombs in all of your countries. Understood?"

The group exchanged a look, before Zimbabwe hesitantly took a bottle.

"Vok," South Africa said as she reached for her own bottle.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Namibia said.

…

Liechtenstein was bored. Other than making the meals and taking them to the prisoners while also asking them if they had surrendered, there was nothing else to do. Her only company had gone, and she had already done all the reading that she could take.

She smiled when an idea crossed her mind, and she whipped out her cell phone.

"Hello?" the other person asked.

"I'm bored," she whined.

There was silence for a moment.

"I'll be right there," he said.

She giggled as she hung up the phone, and in the next moment there were hands covering her eyes.

"Guess who," he said.

She giggled as she stood, and she turned to smile at him.

"Hallo Jason," Liechtenstein said. "I hope things have been going well."

"Of course they have," Molossia said. "As long as America doesn't suspect me, I have no reason to be worried."

She giggled before she tackled him in a hug. She felt him wrap his arms around her, and she squeezed tightly.

Part of her mask was real, only for the micronation. He could make her feel light-hearted and carefree.

"So," Molossia began, "what should we do? Any suggestions?"

Liechtenstein smirked.

"We _could_ play tag," she said. "Loser makes dinner."

"You're on," he said.

…

Romania entered Moldova's room. He sighed when he saw that his brother hadn't eaten his breakfast, and took the tray.

"There's no escaping this," Romania said. "You need to eat."

"Nu," Moldova said. "I'd rather starve than eat something that _you_ made."

"The sooner you start to behave, the sooner I can give you some perks. Like letting you out of the room."

Moldova curled up on the bed, ignoring Romania.

"When I started this, you weren't even born," Romania said. "After more than four hundred years, I'm not going to change. If you can accept Russia, why can't you accept _me_?"

When he didn't receive an answer he shook his head, before leaving the room.

It really hurt him when Moldova rejected him, especially in favour of Russia. He just wanted his little brother back. Was that such a crime?

He thought about taking out his anger on Côte d'Ivoire, but before he could go towards the basement his phone rang. He sighed in frustration as he removed his cell phone from his pocket.

"Be cautious," San Marino's voice said. "The other nations know about us now."

"Understood," Romania said. "Anything else?"

"No. Continue with Côte d'Ivoire. We only have four nations left to win over to our side."

"With pleasure."

Romania hung up, and was once again on his way to the basement when he sensed someone breaching his perimeter. He frowned, removing a dagger from a hidden pocket in his trench coat before creeping towards his front door.

He opened the door and relaxed when he saw Finland, who smiled at him.

"Someone's paranoid," Finland remarked.

"San Marino called me to tell me that the other nations know about us," Romania said.

Finland frowned, before stepping inside the other's house.

Romania put his dagger away, just before Finland launched himself at him, wrapping his arms around the Romanian's neck.

"I've missed you," Finland said, leaning in for a kiss.

Romania smiled into the kiss as he closed the door. The two of them took a moment to get reacquainted with each other before they broke away.

"What were you doing before I came?" Finland asked.

"I was just about to play with our prisoner," Romania said.

"Ooh, can I watch? I've always wanted to see you work."

"Of course, dragul meu."

…

Wales and the micronations idly stared as the other nations called their respective governments, informing them of the threat to security. Wales wasn't too worried about keeping up appearances, since England would do that anyway, especially since England thought that Wales was a 'lazy git'.

Wales's hands curled into fists, and Wy placed her hand on his wrist.

"Calm down," she said. "You don't want to make them suspicious."

Wales relaxed his fists, and he turned to the others.

"How do you manage to stay so calm?" Wales asked.

"Practice," Sealand said. "That, and India gave us a lot of lessons."

Wales looked around, only to see that no one was paying them any attention.

"They tend to ignore us," Hutt River explained. "Since we're not actual nations, they tend to forget that we exist."

"The same thing happens to full-fledged nations," Wy said. "Nations that aren't that high on the global food chain. Nations that don't have a dynamic personality. Nations that have siblings that overwhelm them. Sound familiar?"

"Quite," Wales said. "Are any of those other nations on your list of possible allies?"

"Don't know," Hutt River said. "I'll have to ask Marcello."

"Who's Marcello?"

"Seborga," Wy said. "Italian micronation. And also his boyfriend."

Hutt River simply smacked his sister lightly on the head, though she still pouted playfully.

"So what exactly am I supposed to do?" Wales asked.

"Espionage," Sealand said. "Just act like your usual self. They allow _you_ in the meetings."

"And if you can manage it, sabotage," Wy said. "Just be careful about being caught."

"Don't worry," Wales said. "I've been in wars before. I know the drill."

"Good," Hutt River said. "We're going to need it. And out of curiosity, is there someone you like?"

"Like? You mean…?"

The three micronations nodded, and Wales looked thoughtful.

"No," he said. "Not particularly. Why?"

"We'll explain later," Hutt River said. "Right now, there are too many prying ears."

"We could discuss everything else, but…"

"France will know what we're talking about," Wy interrupted. "And we can't afford for him to know. Not yet."

"Hey, one more thing," Sealand said. "Who's that other nation? You know, the former colony that told you about us?"

Wales looked over towards where Black was speaking to Morocco in a distant corner.

"His name is Themba Dlamini," Wales said. "He's the former personification of the Zulu Empire, and is currently known as Black South Africa."

The micronations exchanged a look.

"Italy's going to want to hear about this," Sealand said, taking out his cell phone.

…

Italy was examining the information he received from North Korea on his laptop when his phone notified him of a text message.

He sighed, picking up the phone and reading said message. He smirked when he saw exactly what was displayed there.

 _Mystery nation is the former Zulu Empire, and is currently known as Black South Africa._

Italy chuckled. He should have known. But then he frowned.

They had tested a lot of things, including the effects of the contracts on nations that had dual personifications. The one that signed was bound, while the one that didn't was like any other nation. The only difference was that the two halves could still discuss everything.

Which meant that South Africa, or apparently _White_ South Africa, could tell everything about what they were doing to _Black_ South Africa, who could relay the information to England and the others.

They should have thought of that. After all, with Apartheid in South Africa all those years ago…

They should have thought of it!

Italy quickly dialled Poland's number, knowing that the other had to know, since he was in the best position to do something at the moment.

"Feliks, I found out who our mystery nation is," Italy said.

…

Poland put the phone back in his pocket, his face betraying nothing of his conversation. He calmly turned to the African nations, trying not to laugh at their conditions.

Lesotho and Swaziland had passed out. Considering the fact the two of them were still physically children, it was understandable. And the others were in different stages of inebriation, with Zimbabwe appearing as though he could join the younger two any moment.

"So, that was Italy," Poland said, and the other nations in the room looked towards him. " _Black_ South Africa, huh?"

If it was possible to scare yourself sober, then South Africa, or _White_ South Africa, proved it to be true. Well, she _looked_ more sober than she did before, and the others stared at Poland, their drunken minds easily snapping the situation and allowing the panic to set in.

"Wat?" White whispered. "I don't…"

"Save it," Poland said. "With your history, I'm surprised we didn't think of that. But no matter. For every problem, there is a solution."

"What do you mean?" Namibia asked.

Poland ignored her, going towards the South African. He grabbed her, and she _tried_ to struggle, but her movements were sluggish, and he easily pinned her arms to the side of her body.

"Maybe you should have gone drinking with Russia more often," Poland said, before he started to drag her out of the room.

"Wait!" Mozambique said, pushing herself to her feet. "Stop!"

"You seven are free to go," Poland said, not letting go of his captive. "Oh, and none of you will be able to inform your little friend about what is happening. The contracts won't allow it."

And Poland completely left the room, his allies walking behind him.

"Stop!" White shouted. "Where are you taking me?"

"You're coming with us to home base," Poland said. "Say goodbye to your cell phone."

She screamed and thrashed when India reached into her pocket to remove the device, but it was useless. He pocketed the device.

"You'll get it back later," Poland said condescendingly. "But for now, you're grounded. You'll be confined in a room, with no cell phone, no TV, no computer… If you're good, we'll give you a few books to read. Do you understand?"

White continued to struggle, and Poland tightened his grip, and she cried out at the bruising strength.

"Do you understand?" Poland repeated.

"Ja," she cried out. "Now please. It hurts."

He loosened his grip, before opting for dragging her along by the wrist. Whenever she tried to pull away, he would tighten his grip in warning.

By the time they arrived at the plane, White had bruises on her arms and around her wrist, and tears were streaming down her face.

…

North Korea looked at the cell phone as soon as he received the message. He sighed, knowing that it was another mission.

He was right. It came from Italy. And the details…

He knew the risks of this mission, but thankfully, he could wait before the mission could be executed. Specifically, he would need to wait for Switzerland and Belarus to come as well. And if England went through with border control…

No. They would need to count on Wales and the micronations. They would make sure that there was a small hole for them to slip through.

Still, for this mission…

He would need to share the details with everyone involved. This would be a tricky mission, and if things went wrong…

It couldn't be afforded.

He quickly called South, knowing that he would need to tell the other eventually.

"Yong, could you please do me a favour and pick up a few bottles of any alcoholic beverage you could get your hands on? We've got a big one, and I already know that I'm going to need some liquid courage."

…

When Russia returned to England's home, he looked beyond angry. The others were all tired as well.

"Baltics are dead?" America asked.

When Russia glared at America, he sighed.

"Italy told us," America said. "They confessed."

"And are they prisoners?" Russia demanded.

"No. They brought Egypt along, and apparently the dude knows magic."

Russia grunted, before he sat down on the couch, looking worse for wear.

"So, there's no way they're coming back?" America asked.

"Nyet," Russia said. "Their hearts had been ripped out and completely destroyed. There also appears to be chunks missing. As though someone took a bite."

America looked a little green at the revelation, and Russia had to smirk a little at the American's facial expression.

"Dude… You aren't serious, right?" America asked nervously.

"Da, I am," Russia said. "I think, from what I could tell from the corpses, that our enemies are willing to cross lines that I didn't even think were drawn."

"Dude… that's just messed up."

Russia nodded.

"Have they said anything else?" Russia asked.

America avoided Russia's gaze.

"Apparently, the Confederate States of America is still alive," America said. "And she joined them, along with Mexico. She's… She's insane when she gets mad. And she gets mad pretty easily. Seriously, that girl…"

Russia nodded, having done some research on the American Civil War during the Cold War. You know, know your enemy and all that…

"Canada also killed several of my agents that I've sent to his place," America said. "And apparently, the deaths were all brutal. The Nordics are also out. Denmark and Sweden are dead, and Iceland and Norway are pretty much their captives. They also dissolved Norway. Germany is still alive, but barely. They're partitioning him."

"Poland's revenge," Russia said.

"The way they were speaking… It's like everything they've ever done was part of their master plan. Including their losses. And anyone outside their group they made friends with is also part of their plan."

Russia sighed in frustration.

"Where is Ukraine?" Russia asked. "I need to make sure she's alright."

"Upstairs with the other girls," America said, and Russia nodded before he stood. "Hey, Commie… They knew that we knew. And they came anyway. You know what that means, right?"

"Da," Russia said. "They have no fear."

 **So a while back, we were discussing how stupid people were to torture their enemies for information, instead of just getting them drunk. You'd say anything in order to stop the pain, but when you're really drunk, you don't really have much of a mouth filter. So Amodi realised that, and they decided on this tactic, which proved to be pointless since Wales told the micronations who told Italy who told Poland. But they're definitely going to use this again if they need to interrogate someone.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Thanks to Aleksi, Bluecloud, Abc, Time Turner, Liana Acacia Falcon, Vanilla-Tsun, pastaaddict, Cardfighter By Maple, snowgem33, topaz3 and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 19**

Portugal looked up when the door opened, expecting to see Italy again. His eyes widened when he saw Macau being pushed inside.

"Macau," Portugal whispered, running towards his former colony as the door closed. "What…?"

"They decided that I should room with you," Macau said. "What's going on?"

"They're trying to strengthen the Bonds," Portugal said. "They know that with you with me, the desire to protect you will be stronger."

"Prussia told us a little about these Bonds," Macau said.

"How would _he_ know?"

"Spain and France told him."

Portugal nodded his head in understanding.

"What else can you tell me about them?" Macau asked.

"They are something that connects two nations in ways that aren't political," Portugal said. "If two nations love each other, the threads are red. And anyone that helps the two get together will also be wrapped in the threads. Then there's hate, represented by black. You can't see the threads that bind two hearts that hate each other, but rather if one hates someone and wants revenge and someone else offers a means, then the thread binds those two. And apparently there's a third one as well. It works with desire. That one's new to me."

"How dangerous can they be?"

"It depends on how strong the Bonds are, and how many are wrapped in them. When they're ribbons, the Bonds are unbreakable. That makes them twice as strong as they would have been. Then each of them has the strength of everyone wrapped in the Bonds. They've wrapped me in their web as well, through my desire to protect you and all my other former colonies."

"So, does that mean that you're as strong as them?"

Portugal shook his head.

"I didn't join them willingly," Portugal said. "I'm excluded from their strength distribution. But they've added my strength as well."

Portugal raised his right hand, intending to look at the wrist and the ribbon that was tied around it. The ribbon appeared, alright, but something else did.

It looked like a thread of wool, a lot thicker than he was used to. And it was _red_.

"No," he whispered.

Macau saw this as well, and walked closer.

"It looks different," Macau said. "It's not a ribbon."

"It's because it's not connected to them in any way," Portugal said. "There is no promise to get us together. And it could still break."

"Who's it connected to?"

Portugal was silent for a moment.

"I don't know."

…

While San Marino was the one that contacted everyone, Vatican worked security when he wasn't busy with something else. And when he was busy, then Seborga would take over.

Vatican had cameras _everywhere_ : in the basement, in the prisoners' rooms, in their base at Switzerland, in Romania's subbasement… But he didn't report too much, knowing that there was no need. There was no need to check on their allies, but he needed to keep an eye on possible dangers, like prisoners.

But other than dangers, there were also opportunities.

Like what he had seen and heard in Portugal's room. He saw the red threads, and knew that they were connected to someone on the outside. Veneziano would want to hear about it.

He tried to hear who the threads were connected to, only for Portugal to say those three dreaded words.

"I don't know."

Vatican frowned. How could Portugal not know who his threads were connected to? Unless…

They originated from someone else, and Portugal might have felt the same way, even if he didn't realise it.

Still, he would need to alert Veneziano.

…

Italy made his way to Israel, a lazy smirk on his face. Israel arched an eyebrow when he saw the other's approach.

"You may want to keep yourself out of sight," Italy said. "South Africa is coming."

Israel's eyes widened, and there was a faint blush on his cheeks.

"What should I do?" Israel asked.

"Pretend that you were captured," Italy said. "Pretend that you didn't join us willingly. Oh, and she's in a bad state at the moment."

"Why?" Israel asked, eyes wide.

"Oh, we found out about the one sharing her country with her. She's been using him to deliver messages to the enemy. But they've been caught, and she'll be staying here. At least until we get our hands on Black as well."

"What are you going to do to them?"

"Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen… to White."

…

Kenya could feel her eyes twitching, and Cameroon seemed to be in the same boat. They had come to see their captors as cold, vicious monsters. And now…

Now they couldn't help but think of hormonal teenagers.

The way Molossia and Liechtenstein were acting… it was _too_ sweet. The type of sweetness that gave you cavities just from looking at it. The type of sweetness that made you cringe.

 _These_ were the nations they had surrendered to?

…

The two Koreas were woken by a knock on the door. There were a few empty bottles of ale, gin and whiskey lying around, but that didn't bother them.

They could manage much more.

It was South who answered the door, and he rolled his eyes before he turned to North.

"It's for you," South said, stepping aside and letting North take over.

North's face brightened when he saw the other, and he immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Nat," North said. "You're here."

"Tak," Belarus said, leaning up to kiss him. She then looked around the room. "What's with all the bottles?"

"Liquid courage," North explained, looking around as well. "Italy gave me a mission that's going to be a doozy."

"He told me to help you," Belarus said. "I'm sure nothing will go wrong."

North sighed as he pulled her into the room.

…

Wales found England in the kitchen, a cup of tea in front of him. The Englishman was speaking on the phone with someone, and Wales went to pour tea for himself.

England sighed before he hung up the phone, and he immediately took a few gulps of his tea.

"What's bothering you?" Wales asked.

"I need to find another place for all of us," England said. "My townhouse isn't large enough for everyone here."

As though to prove his point, they heard thumping from upstairs, followed by Turkey's yelling. They assumed that the Turk got in another fight with Greece.

"Not to mention, I want them out of my house," England added.

"Understood," Wales said, sipping his own tea.

"I only wish we knew what they're going to do next."

Wales hid his smirk behind his teacup. He had an idea about what would happen next, and he found himself not feeling sorry for any of them.

For _any_ of them.

…

Poland and the others returned, dragging White along. She looked despondent, but she kept looking around with wide eyes.

Those eyes honed in on Italy, who smirked as he approached.

"You've been sneaky," Italy said. "It might prove useful, but not against us. You've been a bad girl, and you deserve a time out."

White narrowed her eyes, not enjoying being treated as a child.

"Stop patronizing me!" she exclaimed.

"Why not?" Italy taunted. "You are younger than us, after all. Compared to us, you _are_ still a child. But don't worry. History won't repeat itself."

"What are you talking about?"

Italy simply smirked, and India and Romano started to pull her away. She could hear the others starting to talk to each other, but soon she was out of earshot and couldn't make out what they were discussing.

White was locked in a room, and she looked around to see that there was nothing other than a bed. She tested the door, confirming that it was locked.

She sighed, going to the bed. She might as well get some sleep.

…

Black was tapping his fingers nervously, his phone pressed to his ear. He had been trying to reach White for about an hour, but every time he would reach voicemail. He had even called their boss, but he didn't know where she was, and their neighbours didn't answer at all, even rejecting the call.

He wasn't too worried about their neighbours. He knew that they couldn't speak about whatever was going on with him, so they didn't answer.

But he was a little worried about White. Against him, she was a force to be reckoned with, but against Europeans…

The fact that he had helped England during the Boer War was one of the reasons why they had gotten into violent fights. He had betrayed her, causing a lot of pain for her. And then England decided that the South Africa that mattered was White, since she was the one with the diamonds and the gold.

And people wondered why there was debate about England being the reason for Apartheid.

"What are you doing?"

Black turned around to see Sealand, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"It's nothing to concern yourself with," Black said, turning away.

"You don't like me, do you?" Sealand asked.

"No," Black said. "You have an unnatural air about you."

"Is it because I'm a micronation?"

"No. We have a few of your kind in my country, and none of them feel like you do."

"Oh, so you have micronations?"

Black sighed, walking away. He didn't want to deal with the English child.

He didn't notice as Sealand pulled out his phone.

…

Ladonia sighed, sitting in front of his computer. Kugelmugel was lying on a couch nearby.

"It's unfair," Kugelmugel said. "You're _way_ taller now."

Ladonia had grown by about a head, and he smirked towards Kugelmugel.

"I'm sure you'll get your chance soon," Ladonia said. "You'll definitely be a nation before the others."

"Austria's certainly easier to deal with," Kugelmugel said. "But he's with the enemy. What are you doing?"

"Peter asked me to look up micronations in South Africa," Ladonia said. "In case they cause problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"The kind we're doing. Now that I think about it, we should probably get rid of other micronations as well. Christiana is definitely a target."

"We should probably check with Italy and Poland."

"Then call and ask."

…

Italy was sitting on the couch, Poland on his lap. The two were making up for the time they lost by making out.

"Get a room!"

The two broke apart, annoyed looks on their faces, before they turned to San Marino.

"Fratello, you _really_ should learn to knock," Italy said.

Vatican was next to San Marino once again, trying to look anywhere else but Italy and Poland, while San Marino looked annoyed as well.

"Kugelmugel called," San Marino said. "He's asking about micronations outside the group. He wants to know if they can kill."

Italy looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Si, it might be a good idea," Italy said. "Especially in nations that have already been conquered. We don't need any more loose ends."

San Marino nodded, and now it was Vatican's turn.

"There's something interesting you should know about Portugal," Vatican said. "He has a red thread. I think it's connected to someone on the outside."

"Who is it?" Italy asked.

"I don't know, and neither does Portugal."

Italy and Poland exchanged a look before Poland sighed, getting up from Italy's lap so that the brunet could stand.

"Then it looks like I'll need to find out for myself," Italy said.

…

Switzerland was on his way to Cardiff, and from there, he would take a train to go to London.

England had already blocked off all flights coming from each of their countries, but Wales didn't. Or rather, England had tried to block on Wales's behalf, but the Welshman had cancelled that order. And England wouldn't look at anyone coming in from his brothers' lands, seeing as he trusted them.

Switzerland smirked. He knew that England's acting on Wales's behalf would simply strengthen the black ribbon, making Wales more loyal to Amodi while destroying any lingering guilt he might have had about betraying his brothers.

And the more hate directed to one nation, the easier it was to take them down.

…

Everyone was gathered in England's living room for another meeting, with the exception of the micronations, who weren't allowed.

"Alright," England said. "So, I've found us another base of operations. It's an abandoned military base just outside of London."

"Why do we even _need_ a base of operations?" America asked. "We can work fine from our own countries."

"We are allies in this," Russia said. "We need to work on a plan together, and this place is too small."

"Yes," England said. "Once we have a good strategy, you can leave for your own countries. But for now, we need to come up with a plan, and besides, there's strength in numbers."

"A few nations had already died," France said. "So I agree. Until we have a good plan, we need to stay together."

"I still don't see why we can't handle things on our own turf," America pouted.

…

A young girl was running down the streets of her capital. She knew that the nation had been looking for her, and now she had been cornered.

She turned a corner, only to collide into someone else. She was grabbed by the other, and when she looked up, she tried to scream, only for a hand to be placed on her mouth.

"It's nice to see you again, Texas," Confederacy said. "Mexico's looking for you."

And soon enough, Mexico rounded the corner as well, smirking at the state.

"You should have stayed with me," Mexico said, raising her gun.

Confederacy threw Texas to the ground, and Mexico loomed over the state.

"You're just the first of many," Mexico said, squeezing the trigger.

…

America was about to argue again before the lenses of his glasses suddenly broke. Everyone jumped while America just looked horrified.

"No," he whispered, removing the glasses.

"What just happened?" England asked.

America was silent for a moment.

"It's Texas," America said. "Before she was my state, she was her own nation, after getting independence from Mexico. She… she just died."

"Cornwall," England said, turning to his brothers. "If they're targeting former nations…"

"We've got to get him here," Scotland said.

…

Belarus had her arms folded, lips pressed in a thin line. She was clearly not happy with what her lover had to do, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"I'll leave you two alone," South said, going to the door. "You're going to have to talk it out or something, and I don't want to be around for that."

South Korea left, and Belarus sighed.

"Are you really going to go through with it?" Belarus asked. "You do realise how dangerous this is?"

"Which is why Italy wanted you to be here as well," North said. "So that you can get me out when it gets too dangerous."

Of course, there's one piece of the puzzle regarding his mission that North had neglected to mention. It wouldn't be a good idea to give the details to Belarus until _after_ the mission was complete.

…

Portugal and Macau jumped when the door was opened again. Portugal moved so that he was standing protectively in front of Macau.

"Relax," Italy said, stepping closer. "He's the last thing on my mind. I came to talk to _you_."

"What do you want?" Portugal asked.

Italy grabbed Portugal's right wrist, and when he applied some pressure the threads appeared again.

"They're not unbreakable," Italy said. "But whether or not it snaps or gets strengthened depends on who it's connected to. Well?"

"I don't know," Portugal said, avoiding Italy's eyes. "I have no idea who it might be connected to."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you don't want to tell me?"

"I really don't know. I… It might be someone that loves _me_ , but…"

"But you've kept your heart closed romantically for too many years," Italy finished. "You denied your feelings. This was probably there for a long time, but you never bothered to check. So, do you have any idea who it might be?"

Portugal swallowed, before shaking his head.

"No matter," Italy said, releasing Portugal's wrist. "We'll find out. We always do. And if it's connected to an undesirable…"

Italy smirked, before he made a cutting gesture with his fingers.

Portugal took a step back, the threat clear. If the thread was connected to someone they wouldn't find useful, then the Bond would be broken, and Portugal would experience a massive amount of pain, considering the strength.

And all other Bonds would strengthen.

…

Netherlands swallowed nervously as he approached England. The other was on the phone, but once he saw the serious expression in his eyes, England apologised to the other person and hung up.

"Is something the matter?" England asked.

"You were quite worried about Miguel," Netherlands said.

"Of course. He's my best friend. Why… Wait."

Netherlands sighed, nodding his head.

"I want to save him too," Netherlands said. "The thought of what they might do to him… You've seen the way they acted."

"Yes," England said. "We'll need to find out where they're keeping him. Saving him and anyone else should be high on our list of priorities."

Netherlands nodded, and he turned away, but not without catching China's eye.

He knew that China felt something for Portugal as well. They had argued about it in the past. But now wasn't the time for arguing.

Portugal's safety came before their rivalry.

…

Mexico and Confederacy returned to Mexico's home, satisfied smiles on their faces.

"I feel a little sorry for Texas, though," Confederacy said. "Did we _have_ to kill her?"

"Do _you_ want a loose end hanging around?" Mexico asked.

"Fair point."

The two wrapped their arms around each other, and just as they were leaning in for a kiss, Mexico paused, sensing something.

"What's wrong?" Confederacy asked.

"I suddenly feel a disturbance from my country," Mexico said. "And it isn't from a human."

 **So originally, I didn't want to add any states, since that would overcomplicate things. But I've been asked (repeatedly) to add a certain state, so I decided that some states will be added. Specifically, states that were once nations or those that have a separatist movement.**

 **I'm also not sure about micronations. I learned about Hout Bay being a micronation (apparently), then I stumbled upon another micronation called Sirocco that has territory in South Africa and New Zealand, and a few years back a friend of mine informed me about this town that declared independence nine times. Those are the South African micronations, and then I know about Christiana through SATW. If I'll add them, they're going to have a very brief appearance.**


	21. Chapter 20

**Thanks to Time Turner, Abc, juja0010, ANIMEisLIKEHISTORY, snowgem33, Saryana's, Viofan238, ScandinavianTrash, topaz3, Skye Phoenix Dove, pastaaddict, magicflyingmintbunnies and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Thanks for the suggestions I received regarding the states with former nation status. Um, just one thing, since the one that sent it was a guest and I can't reply directly: It's kind of been confirmed that Wallachia is Romania, so I'm not going to use Wallachia, but how Romania fits in with this is kind of explained through the Wallachian history. There's actually another story I've started working on regarding Romania's identity as Wallachia.**

 **And to make things clear, there will be no EnglandXPortugal, since it's already popular (on Portugal's side, at least). So it's a love triangle between Netherlands, China and Portugal.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 20**

Guyana grumbled as he went towards his front door. In his opinion, it was still far too early in the morning for visitors.

He opened the door to see Venezuela, and his eyes widened at the gun pointed at his head.

"Hola," Venezuela said, before he pulled the trigger.

Pain erupted in Guyana's scull as he dropped to the ground. An ordinary gunshot, even to the head, couldn't kill a nation, but judging by Venezuela's smirk, that wasn't his intention.

"Sometimes it's a good thing they overlook us," Venezuela said, licking his lips. "Now, it's time to play."

…

Sealand relayed the information that Wales had given them to San Marino, who would relay it to Italy and Poland.

"Why exactly do you send the messages to San Marino?" Wales asked.

"We don't bother Italy or Poland unless it's really important," Wy explained. "Like when Black arrived. Moving to another base is less important."

"Italy and Poland are the strategists," Hutt River said. "If they're bothered by every single thing, then they'll never get a plan, and we'll be stuck."

"Leaving room for our enemies to make a move," Wales finished. "You need to give me San Marino's number then."

"You're going to have to get your phone synchronised with ours first," Hutt River said. "The Koreas, San Marino, Finland, Canada and Belarus can do that. We'll have to see whether or not one of them is nearby."

"Why's it so important to sync my phone?"

"We'll explain later," Sealand said, eyes focused on his phone. "They need our help."

…

Israel was on his way to see White. He wanted to speak to her, to make sure she was alright, and to gain her trust.

Before he could go to her room, Poland grabbed him and pulled him aside.

"Are you going to see South Africa?" Poland asked.

"Yes," Israel said. "Don't try to stop me."

"I'm not," Poland assured, "but you would need to pretend as though you're not here out of your own free will."

"I know."

"And, I want you to give her a few books to keep her occupied."

Israel arched his eyebrow, and he followed Poland to a room that he learned was a very impressive library. A few books had been set aside, and once Israel saw them, he turned to Poland.

"That is cruel," Israel said, but his voice was calm.

"The more hate we breed," Poland said, "the stronger we become."

…

Moldova was lying on his bed, simply staring at the ceiling. He didn't react when the door opened, expecting Romania to try to make him see their side again, or just to give him his food. He didn't want anything from the older.

"You know, you need to eat."

That voice didn't belong to Romania.

Moldova turned his head to regard Finland, who was standing in the doorway, a serious expression on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Moldova asked.

"Well, I wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend, after all," Finland said.

"You and my brother are together?"

"That's right."

Moldova stared at Finland for a moment before he narrowed his eyes.

"My brother is a monster," Moldova said.

"No he's not," Finland said. "He's a nation, just like you and me. And when Vlad the Impaler was his boss… Why do you think he was named after him? He always had that potential – everyone does – but he decided to indulge in the bloodlust. And that's what made him useful to our leaders."

"So in other words, he's just being used."

"No. He's a willing participant. But the point is, there are few things that keep him from going berserk in his bloodlust. One of those things is you."

"What do you mean?"

"In order to achieve our goals, we had to create a fake persona. Do you have any idea how much of a strain it is to be someone you're not? It drives you crazy. When Vlad discovered that he had a little brother… that was one of the happiest I've ever seen him. When he was with you, he didn't need to pretend. He cares about you, and you rejecting him the whole time – first with Russia, and now this – really hurts him."

"He's hurting that guy in his basement!"

"Only until his friends surrender. And according to the latest report, there's only one left."

"What's going to happen to him then?"

"No more pain. He'll be kept prisoner, or sent back to his own country. Either way, he won't be in anymore pain."

Moldova looked away.

"I don't like it," Moldova said.

"It doesn't matter if you like it or not," Finland said. "You're just going to need to accept it. For your sake. The only reason you aren't hurt is because Vlad _doesn't_ want to hurt you. But if you keep pushing him away… There's a chance he might snap, and he'll do something he'll regret. And once one of us snaps…"

Moldova turned back to Finland.

"What happened?" Moldova asked.

"It was during the Winter War," Finland said. "We were both allied with the Axis, remember? Anyway, I was annoyed with Russia, and Vlad came to check up on me, partly because of Germany's orders, and partly because of our other alliance. Anyway, I was stressed, annoyed, and when he offered to help me… I lashed out, saying that I could handle things on my own. I… He told Germany that he ran into Russia. His arm was broken in four places because of me, and I broke six of his ribs. I… I loved him, but I hurt him. And I'm not the only one that's snapped like that. Point is, if Vlad snaps, he's going to hurt you. And he'll hate himself for it. So for your own good, I suggest you cooperate."

Finland turned around, walking towards the door.

"Wait," Moldova said, and Finland paused. "Do you… do you really love my brother?"

Finland turned around, a smile on his face, making him look like the Finland that Moldova was familiar with.

"With all my heart," Finland said, before walking out the room.

Moldova was left alone with his thoughts, pondering what the older nation had said. Romania didn't hurt him because he didn't want to hurt him, but if he lost his patience…

He could tell that Finland felt guilty about what happened. And Moldova remembered the incident. His brother had been bedridden for a week. He also seemed depressed during that time.

Moldova looked towards the food that Finland had apparently brought him. He couldn't antagonise them. He didn't want to get hurt.

But another part also knew that it was his brother. And he didn't want to upset Romania. Not because he would get hurt, but because he didn't want the other mad at him, and he didn't want to see Romania sad.

So Moldova stood and approached the food brought to him for the first time. He might not be happy about it, but there was nothing that he could do. He would need to cooperate.

He ignored the fact that he felt comforted by the knowledge that Romania really cared about him and didn't want to hurt him.

…

White looked up when the door opened. She had been trying to sleep, but without any success.

Her eyes widened when she saw Israel, who had his head bowed submissively.

"Don't tell me they got you too," White said, standing from her bed.

"Yeah," he said. "They let you move around if they think you won't cause trouble."

"Did you try to fight?"

"I… I wanted to, but… I keep thinking about the Second World War, and…"

White had moved closer as he spoke, and when she was close enough she wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug. He clung to her, grateful for the affection.

"They know about Black," White said. "He wasn't affected by them, so we used him to deliver the message to the other nations. But now they know. And I have no idea what they plan to do to him."

He clung to her tighter, and she took it as his turn to try to comfort her.

"Do you think we could try to escape?" White asked.

"I don't think it's possible," Israel said. "I overheard them talking. They said that anyone they've conquered… Should they no longer be part of their territories, then they will die."

Her breath hitched, and he held her tighter.

"They wanted me to give you some books to read," he said. "I imagine it would be boring otherwise."

She stepped back, and he went towards the door, bending down to retrieve the books placed next to it. Her eyes widened.

"That's a lot of books," she commented.

He placed them on the bed, before turning to her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But I… I need to lock the door."

"I know," she said. "You're as much a prisoner as I am. I don't want to get you in trouble. Dankie."

He gave a small smile, and she smiled back. He left afterwards, and she heard the door locking behind him.

She turned towards the books, sifting through them, and she paled when she saw what all the books were about. She wondered if Israel _knew_ , but he wouldn't be that mean.

The books were all about the Boer War.

…

Israel was outside the room, his hands curled into fists. He had met Black South Africa before, and he had heard her complain about him more times than he could count. And she was worried about his safety.

He hated Black. He was mostly the reason why he and White didn't have such a good relationship like they used to. And Black was annoyed by Israel's treatment of him, but he had to understand. White was one of the first nations that had recognised him as a nation, and Israel didn't abandon her when the majority of the world wanted nothing to do with her. And once White got rid of the old regime and more nations started approaching her again…

 _Black_ got in the way between them.

Israel was unaware of the black ribbon around his hand, but it didn't matter. He wanted to know what Italy and Poland wanted to do to Black. And he wanted to be involved.

…

Liechtenstein smirked as she called San Marino. They finally had all of the Africans.

Well, _almost_ all.

There was still Morocco to deal with, along with Black South Africa.

…

England had given the coordinates to the new base of operations to everyone present. They would each be going individually and meeting each other there.

Wales would be taking the micronations. None of them argued about it. It gave them the chance to talk without having to worry about possible eavesdroppers.

"Do you think they're suspicious of us?" Sealand asked.

"No," Wales said. "They show no indication. Only Black seems troubled by you, but it could be for other reasons."

"How's he with judging character?" Hutt River asked.

"He's horrible. He was a warrior, and once South Africa was unified, England stuffed him in the mines while he asked White to be the official representative."

"So, he'd hate England?" Wy asked.

"Less than White does. There was an Anglo Boer War and an Anglo Zulu War. The Zulus lost because they didn't have the initiative to continue like the first battle. They were used to fighting wars where only one battle decided the outcome. The Zulus were tenacious and relentless, but the Boers were stubborn. The Boers lost their second war because England – and by extension all of us – used dirty tactics. Scorched earth and concentration camps. Did you know that that's where the term comes from? Anyway, White hates England more because he didn't fight fair. He involved too many innocent citizens, and even used Black against her. There's also something else, but that would cause a _long_ debate."

"So, White would be the most useful to us," Sealand said. "Not to mention, she's already part of our territory."

"What do they intend to do to Black?" Wales asked.

"Don't know," Hutt River said. "It's not our decision."

"Alright. So, why does my phone need to be synchronised again?"

"Because we're working on all the communications' satellites," Sealand said. "Once we have them all, they're going down."

"You're going to cut off all communication," Wales said.

"Yep. Except for ours."

"That… Is brilliant!"

"Naturally," Wy said. "Soon, they'll decide to go back to their own countries. And then they'll be cut off from each other."

"And they'd be easy pickings," Hutt River finished.

…

Christiana ran through the streets of Copenhagen, his lungs burning, and it wasn't just from the running. Freetown Christiana was burning, and he knew who was responsible.

He cried out when he fell, tears pricking his eyes. The streets were deserted, even if it was the middle of the day. The Danes knew that there was something bad. And they didn't want to be there.

Christiana knew that something bad had happened to Denmark. The small part of him that was connected to his brother/father figure felt empty. And he didn't know what caused it. He would need to see what the humans' opinions were.

He froze when he saw someone just in front of him, crouching down. He didn't look up, looking through his bangs towards the other. The figure was small, but familiar.

"There you are," Kugelmugel said. "You know, there's an easier way to get away. Oh, but you can't, can you? Not with your 'country' burning."

Christiana swallowed nervously, before looking up at the other boy.

"Why are you doing this?" Christiana asked.

"Because Denmark is no more," another voice said, one that Christiana recognised as Ladonia. "This land belongs to Finland now. And we can't have you running around anymore. You're a loose end."

Christiana winced when the other micronation pressed his foot down on his back, before he froze. Ladonia was no longer a micronation. He was now a true nation.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Christiana asked.

Kugelmugel smirked, before producing a knife, causing Christiana's eyes to widen.

"All loose ends need to be cut," Kugelmugel said, his smirk widening.

…

Brazil was in his bedroom, simply staring at the ceiling. There was nothing that he could do. Nothing could free him from his situation.

He jumped when the door opened, and he sat up to see Argentina standing in the door, looking smug.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Why are you in my house?"

"Because you're our territory now," Argentina said. "I can come in and out if I want to."

She crept closer, and he wasn't too keen on having her anywhere near him. He crawled further away on the bed, but she didn't let that bother her. Soon, she pinned him against the bed, applying her full weight.

"That's right," she muttered lowly. "You're our territory. As long as I don't kill you, Italy says I can do anything I want to you. _Anything_."

Brazil trembled as she pushed her mouth against his neck, sucking and licking the skin. He cried out in pain when she sank her teeth into his skin where shoulder and neck connected to each other. She bit harder, and he could feel himself bleed. Tears stung his eyes at the pain, and she only bit deeper.

She moaned, before pulling away. He felt sick when he saw the blood surrounding her mouth, which she licked clean.

"You taste delicious," she said. "If we didn't need you alive, I could just eat you up. But I can't even cut out a few chunks."

She leaned down and licked his wound, making him shudder.

"I guess I'll have to settle for this," she said. "I need to ask the others to save me a bite."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Venezuela, Chile and Peru are visiting Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana," she said.

"Don't hurt them!" he shouted.

"Too late. Their orders were to _kill_ them. But there's no reason not to have a little fun. It's been a while since the four of us had nation flesh."

He could feel the bile rising in his throat. The four of them… There was a time when he _trusted_ them. When he saw them as his _friends_. And now…

She climbed off him, and he sighed in relief.

"Come on," she said, a smirk on her face. "Italy actually wanted me to get you. You're going to home base."

"Do I have a choice?" he asked.

"Nope. None at all."

…

Switzerland sighed, knocking on the door. He assumed that it was the correct room. Otherwise, he would need to have a word with South Korea.

The door opened and North was revealed, looking a little tired.

"South isn't here," he said. "I think he said he's going for a walk."

"Can I wait for him here?" Switzerland asked.

Instead of answering, North held up his right hand, revealing the glowing red ribbon. Switzerland sighed.

"I'll call to find out where he is," he said, turning away. "Have fun."

The door closed behind him, and Switzerland decided to find his own lover.

…

Mexico was less than happy as she drove towards Morelia. It would seem that she had a little problem to take care of.

She should have dealt with the brat a long time ago.

When she arrived at her destination, she didn't even bother shutting off the car before opening the door and storming to the front door and pounding on it.

"Open up!" she shouted. "I have a bone to pick with you!"

She ignored the people walking around. They were supposed to be her people, but apparently _someone_ was having trouble recognising that, and was trying to take that away from her.

The door opened, and the first thing she saw was the pair of brown eyes, before she noticed that the other had a gun pointed to her.

"Then talk," Michoacán said. "I'm listening."

 **Michoacán was a request from topaz3. And she fits in with what's going on. So all credit for her goes to topaz3.**

 **Afrikaners still hold a grudge regarding the Boer War, and you'll see that some of them are not so fond of English, the language or the people. I also heard somewhere that the Boer War is the war that the British feel the most ashamed about, especially regarding the treatment of the women and children.**

 **That other thing Wales is referring to is Apartheid. A lot of historians believe that English influence was the greatest factor for Apartheid, while others believed that a few events during the Great Trek were the main causes, for example the events which led to the Battle of Blood River.**

 **And Game of Mirrors has been nominated for the Hetalia Awards, so if you liked it, please vote for it.**


	22. Chapter 21

**Thanks to ANIMEisLIKEHISTORY, Carismastic, snowgem33, ScandinavianTrash, juja0010, Eternal Nexus Warrior, pastaaddict and KathAmbrosius67 for reviewing. Wow. More than 200 reviews already?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 21**

Mexico glared at the state, who stared her down in turn. It was kind of like a Mexican standoff, and Mexico would have smiled at the irony if it wasn't for the situation at hand.

"Talk," Michoacán repeated.

"I'm sensing a certain sense of abandonment coming from your state," Mexico said. "Care to explain?"

"Of course. Consider it like this: Michoacán is declaring its independence from Mexico. I will not let you use my people in this war."

"They're not _your_ people anymore."

"Considering you've felt it, I'd say they are. Look around you. My people want no part in your war. _I_ want no part in it."

"You have no right…"

"No, _you_ have no right. You're controlling your people. _You're_ the one that chose this. And you want to use _my_ people as well."

"You've experienced war before. What makes this different from others?"

"I heard about what you did to Spain."

There was a tense silence for a moment. Mexico narrowed her eyes.

"How?" Mexico asked.

"I have my sources," Michoacán said, shrugging.

"Let me guess: it's through your cartel. Oh yes, I know about your hobby, _Reina Diablo_. And I've tolerated it. But it ends _now_."

"You have no say anymore. In case you hadn't noticed, I've a gun pointed at you, and you still need to draw your weapon. And the moment you move to do that, I _will_ pull this trigger, and while it won't kill you, it's going to really, _really_ hurt."

Mexico took a step back.

"You can expect the paperwork on your desk tomorrow," Michoacán said. "Now _leave_."

"Fine then," Mexico said. "But the next time we meet, things will be different."

"Next time, things won't be _civil_ between us."

Michoacán slammed the door, and Mexico narrowed her eyes.

"Indeed," she muttered. "Next time we meet, I will drive a bullet through your skull. You can be sure of that."

…

Switzerland, Belarus and the two Koreas were in the hotel room, North preparing for his mission and Belarus looking less than happy.

"Don't worry," South said. "If something bad happens, we'll be there to bail him out."

"And how would we know if something bad _does_ happen?" Belarus demanded.

"Don't worry, my sweet," North said, revealing the red ribbons. "You'll know."

"I don't like it one bit," Belarus said.

"Neither do I," South said. "But it's the bosses' orders. We're going to have to let him go through with it."

"Fine," Belarus said, before she turned to North. "Be careful."

"I'll be as careful as I can, my sweet," North said, before wrapping her in a hug.

Switzerland and South shared a glance, and they left to give the lovers some privacy.

…

Israel approached Poland, who smirked when he saw him.

"So, did you give her the books?" Poland asked.

"Yes, but I didn't stick around to see her reaction," Israel said. "What was the point of that, anyway?"

"To remind her of her hatred for England."

"If only there's more reason for her to hate Black."

Poland narrowed his eyes.

"You knew about him?" Poland demanded. "We've been trying to figure out who this guy is and _you knew him_?"

"I was unaware of that," Israel said. "You should have asked."

Poland's eye twitched, but he knew that Israel was right. They didn't ask him.

"What are you planning to do to him?" Israel asked.

"Why?" Poland asked, eyes narrowed.

"Because I want a piece of him."

Poland looked down at Israel's hand and smirked, before looking him in the eye again.

"Unfortunately, I can't let you take part," Poland said. "You need to be there to comfort White."

Israel raised an eyebrow, and Poland proceeded to explain their plan. When that was finished, Israel had a dark smirk on his face.

"I can live with that," Israel said. "When are you doing this?"

"A plan's already been set in motion," Poland said. "Not to worry."

…

When they arrived at the base, everyone scattered, searching for rooms that they could call their own, at least for a while. It had been rather cramped at England's house, and they all hoped that they wouldn't have to share their rooms.

England breathed a sigh of relief. Now he wouldn't have to worry about any nations possibly destroying his home. Having his brothers there had been bad enough, but with all the other nations…

They were given an hour to get settled before they were all called for a meeting, with the exception of the micronations, who were given an entertainment room to keep them occupied.

"We need to find out where they are and what they're planning," England said.

"They could be in one of their countries," France said. "It's the logical place."

"Logical and predictable," China said. "They won't try it. They already called _us_ out for being predictable. They wouldn't do something they deemed so as well."

"Well…" England began, before his phone alerted him to a text.

"Aren't you the one telling me that I shouldn't have those things in meetings?" America teased.

"Shut it," England said, reading the text. "It's from the alarm company in London."

"Let me guess: the alarm of your house went off."

"Worse: it's been deactivated."

"How is that worse?" Russia asked.

"Because all of us are here," England said. "There shouldn't _be_ anyone that could deactivate my alarm."

The others' eyes widened, realising what the problem was.

"You think it's one of them?" Japan asked.

"I'm almost certain," England said.

"Now could be our chance to capture one of them," America said. "Come on, let's go."

"I don't know…"

"America's right," China said. "This might be our only chance."

"Fine. But Russia, America and China will be coming with me."

"Of course," America said. "The hero wouldn't let you face one of the villains alone."

Russia and China shared a glance. They would certainly have done it.

…

Moldova looked up when the door opened, expecting to see either Romania or Finland again.

Instead, the nation that had been held prisoner, Côte d'Ivoire, was pushed into the room. Moldova immediately ran to help the weakened African.

"His friends have all surrendered," Romania said, looking down at the other two. "I have no more reason to hurt him. I trust you'll help him to recover a little before we send him back to his own country."

Moldova said nothing as he helped the other to a sitting position, and Romania lingered a moment longer before he closed the door, locking them in.

"Are you alright?" Moldova asked.

"I'll be fine," Côte d'Ivoire said. "It's not as bad as it could be. He used his magic to heal me every now and again."

"So that you would last longer," Moldova whispered. "And you wouldn't have the chance to feel numb."

Côte d'Ivoire looked at Moldova with an odd expression.

"How do you know something like that?" he asked.

"I'm a former Soviet nation," Moldova said. "Just because I look like a child, doesn't mean I didn't learn a thing or two. Anyway, you believe in magic?"

"We Africans are more superstitious than you Europeans. We're more likely to believe in magic."

Moldova nodded, and a few moments later Finland arrived, carrying two bowls of soup. Côte d'Ivoire swallowed.

"I haven't eaten since I got here," the African said.

"Then let's get something in your stomach," Moldova said, retrieving the soup.

While Moldova was the one that physically resembled a child, he felt very protective of the African nation, who had suffered enough.

…

"Well," Kenya said, "I feel cheated."

"Yep," Cameroon said. "To think, we surrendered to lovesick teenagers."

The four Africans watched with disturbed expressions as Molossia and Liechtenstein were flirting with each other, feeling incredibly foolish. If the other nations knew that they had surrendered to those two, then no matter what the circumstances, they _would_ be the laughing stocks of the world.

Liechtenstein turned to them, a disturbingly sweet smile on her face that instantly made the Africans nervous.

"Keep speaking like that and we'll make you _walk_ back to your own countries," Liechtenstein said. "And seeing as there's a blizzard outside, I wouldn't advise that. Now, if you're good, we'll take you back to your own countries once the blizzard has settled. Are we clear?"

The African nations nodded fearfully, and Liechtenstein's smile widened.

"Good," she said, before turning back to Molossia. "Now, where were we?"

…

Brazil was on a private plane, curled up in a ball. He was being taken to their base, and he didn't want to go. Why did they even want him there, anyway?

Argentina was in a nearby chair, sleeping peacefully, completely oblivious, or perhaps uncaring, of the Brazilian's distress. She had shown signs of enjoying his misery.

It would be easy for him to overpower her. He could overpower her, take control of the plane, and escape. Preferably to friendlier nations.

With that thought in mind, Brazil stood from his chair. He could strangle her. Give her the temporary death. It would last for about an hour, but it would give him enough time.

He quietly crept closer, knowing that he couldn't allow her to wake up before he was close enough. Watching her sleeping face, he would have never thought her to be so evil, but the devil led you astray with words of honey. It was how deception worked.

He was reaching out with his hands, intending to wrap them around her neck, but before they could reach their destination they were grabbed and twisted. He cried out in pain, and before he knew it he was pinned to the ground, wrists pinned above his head and Argentina's face hovering in front of his.

What scared him the most wasn't his position, but the Argentine's expression. It was not angry, but _gleeful_.

"I knew it," she said. "I knew there was a savage side to you. You're just like us."

"No!" he shouted, struggling. "Get off of me!"

"You've been supressing it," Argentina continued. "But you're just as cold and heartless as we are. Trying to strangle me in my sleep? We've learned how to sense when an enemy is near. We also know when someone that isn't an enemy decides they want to attack us. And what did you hope to accomplish after you succeeded? Did you think you would be free? I've got news for you: You will _never_ be free from us. We've got things in place that will kill anyone that is no longer in our possession."

"Well, dying will be better than being forced to serve you, and having my people serve you."

"You don't get it. Your people, your land… it _stays_ in our possession, and we'll be able to use them in any way we see fit. And you wouldn't be there to act as a buffer. Your people would become nothing but cannon fodder."

Brazil stared at her with a horrified expression, and she smirked before she stood.

"So if I were you, I'd be a good doggie and do as your masters order," she said. "Are we clear?"

"S-sim," Brazil said.

"Good. Now, I suggest we get some sleep. It's going to be a long ride. And then there's a chance that we would need to do something when we're there. Got it?"

He nodded, and he retreated to his seat again. He watched as she went back to her own, and almost effortlessly seemed to fall asleep, _if_ she was asleep.

But Brazil couldn't fall asleep. He wasn't like them.

Right?

…

Japan was in the conference room, standing in front of the world map. He had several pins next to him: blue, yellow and red. He occasionally had to step back to assess the situation before applying anymore pins.

"What are you doing?"

Japan turned to see Turkey standing in the doorway, before turning back to the map.

"I'm trying to determine which nations are on our side and which are the enemy," Japan said.

"We already know who the enemies are," Turkey said, walking closer.

"I want to compare them with us. The red pins represent the nations that are members of Amodi. Their allies. The yellow pins are the nations they've captured or killed. And the blue pins are us."

Turkey nodded, staring at the map.

"There's a lot of yellow," Turkey said. "And I don't even think we know about everyone they've captured."

"I know. It's disturbing. Italy-san has said that they can predict what we will do. And we know so little about them…"

"We basically know nothing about them. The Egypt I saw yesterday… It's not someone that I recognise. He was…"

"I know. It was the same with Italy. I've never seen him like that before."

The two stared at the map. Almost the entire continent of Africa was covered in yellow, with five red pins and two blue pins. There were also a few yellow pins in Europe, and a few in Asia. But they didn't really know about the others. The South Americans weren't really in any of their social circles, the same with a few of the other nations.

They would need to check.

…

Hong Kong and Tibet had been forced into a room, and Hong Kong was bored out of his mind. Tibet spent the whole time meditating, and it was grating on Hong Kong's nerves.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore, and he made his way towards Tibet.

"How can you keep doing that?" Hong Kong demanded. "Are you unaware of the situation we're in? Now is not the time to do that."

"Actually, now is the perfect time for meditation," Tibet said, not even bothering to look at Hong Kong. "Through meditation, I keep my fear at bay."

"Fear?" Hong Kong asked, slumping against the wall.

"Yes. Why would they need us? They have the power to kill us, and they can do so at any time. So why keep us alive?"

Hong Kong swallowed nervously, knowing the answer.

"They want to use us against China," Hong Kong said.

"Yes," Tibet said. "Now, _how_ do they intend to do that? Do you understand my fear?"

Hong Kong nodded, though Tibet didn't look at him.

"I'm trying to keep calm," Tibet said. "And by keeping calm, I'm hoping that I can think of a plan."

"Good plan," Hong Kong said. "What do you think they're doing to Macau?"

"They're using him to control Portugal. It all depends on Portugal whether or not they hurt him."

Hong Kong stared at Tibet for a moment, before sitting down next to him, legs crossed. He closed his eyes, and he tried to calm himself, focusing only on his and Tibet's breathing.

Perhaps they could think of a plan together.

…

North had managed to override England's house alarm and slipped inside. He knew that the house was deserted.

He also knew something else very important.

He searched around, finally finding England's study. He smirked when he saw the other had an old desktop computer.

Sometimes it was a good thing that England was a bit old-fashioned.

North started up the computer, rolling his eyes when he saw that England didn't even have a password. Old-fashioned and stupid, it would seem. Or perhaps a tad bit overconfident. Arrogant, perhaps.

It was relatively easy to hack into England's government, or perhaps that was just the opinion of the expert hacker. And he was pleased to see that it wasn't just England's government.

The entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Now, North could have some fun.

He decided to start with England first, since he was the biggest threat. Raising the taxes seemed to be a good idea, and then there's also the inflation…

And let's increase the orders from trading partners as well. Oh, and bye-bye army budget.

North was having fun. He could ruin the economy, as well as cause civil unrest. He might even cause the United Kingdom to divide. Of course, there already _was_ a division.

While North was having fun, he heard the door open downstairs. He quickly opened the screen at Wales, making it seem as though he was about to tamper with Wales's country. They couldn't allow him to fall under suspicion.

He quietly stood, walking towards the window. He was a little irked to see that England had bars on his windows. Well, it would seem he wasn't _completely_ useless when it came to security.

He could hear someone's footsteps coming closer, and he rolled his eyes. They needed to learn a thing or two about stealth.

He was about to slip out of the room when Russia came into view at the door. He gave one of his supposed-to-be-creepy-but-not-for-them smiles.

"Privet, comrade," Russia said. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Now, what are you doing in Anglia's home?"

North swallowed, taking a step back. He saw America and China rush in beside Russia, and he narrowed his eyes.

"So, you're all friends?" North asked. "That's not going to last for long."

"Dude, you're cornered, and you're outnumbered," America said. "So come quietly, and we won't hurt you."

"I highly doubt you _could_ ," North spat. "You're far too soft. You couldn't hurt me if you _tried_."

That was when England arrived, and he didn't look happy to see the North Korean in his study.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing here?" England asked.

"Admiring your decorating," North said, a little sarcastically. "Seriously, you need to work on your network security. It's pathetic."

"My security was provided by MI6!"

"Oh, that explains it. I already hacked it."

England's eyes widened, and he immediately rushed towards the computer. North didn't stop him, but he followed him with his gaze. He could see out of the corner of his eye how the other three moved, but he was focused solely on England.

And then he felt China's wok connect with his head, and he was out like a light.

 **And most of this chapter was written whenever I took a break from studies/homework. Reading about the philosophy of literature and the debate about whether or not literature is a subject worthy about philosophy. And also writing a play about someone who wants to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge and then two ghosts (who the main character doesn't know are ghosts) start bickering, one trying to discourage the main character from jumping and the other trying to get the main character to jump, and even goes so far as to try to push them. All this while being cut off from the internet.**


	23. Chapter 22

**Thanks to Time Turner, Abc, Cardfighter By Maple, snowgem33, ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict, ANIMEisLIKEHISTORY and an anon for reviewing.**

 **I just need to warn you that around the end of this chapter are parts that you should read with caution if you have a weak stomach. It's not gore per se, but there** _ **is**_ **blood involved.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 22**

"Blast," England said. "He's messed with just about everything."

"Can you fix it?" China asked, moving closer.

"It's going to take a while."

"Um, dudes," America said, toeing the unconscious North Korean, "what should we do about him?"

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here," England said.

"So, should we take him with us?"

"Da," Russia said. "I think it's a good idea. I think France would like to ask him about Spain, don't you?"

"Yes," England said. "And I'm sure _everyone_ will have questions for him. This might be the only chance we get."

"I'm curious about something," China said. "If North's here, then where's South?"

…

Belarus, South and Switzerland were in the hotel room.

Belarus suddenly gasped, holding her head, while South and Switzerland exchanged a glance.

"He's been captured," South said.

"So it would seem," Switzerland sighed. "That reminds me. Poland sent us something that could help us out later."

Switzerland went to his bag, where he retrieved what looked like four smoke bombs. South and Belarus smirked.

"Imagine Japan's face when he sees that," South said.

"I think it's going to be _all_ their faces," Belarus said.

"Oh, the things we can achieve by combining magic and science," Switzerland said.

…

India was lying on one of the couches, Romano fast asleep on top of him. One of the things that made their Bonds stronger was when others could see their love for one another.

Except when they were intimate. Then they wanted _no one_ to see them.

It had started out as cuddling, and now it was Romano sleeping on top of India.

India calmly stroked Romano's hair, being careful to avoid that sensitive curl. Even India wasn't allowed to touch it all that often, and he didn't want to wake Romano while he was so relaxed.

India looked up when he noticed someone entering the room, and he saw a smiling Italy. The Italian's gaze was fixed on his older brother, before turning to India.

"He really loves you, you know?" Italy asked.

"I know," India said, smiling as he looked back at Romano. "I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Sometimes, I think he's too good for me."

Italy sat down on an armchair, simply staring at his brother.

"I'm glad he found you," Italy said. "There were times when his mask became real to him. The insecurities. Even though it was all planned, he still didn't like that people preferred me. He could forgive the personality preference, but whenever someone called me cute and not him… it hurt him."

India nodded, having guessed something like that. He continued to stroke Romano's hair.

"His hatred for other nations grew, but he never turned that hatred towards me," Italy continued. "He knew it was all planned, some of them for his safety. But he felt so much hate, that he started to believe that he wouldn't find love."

"I guess I proved him wrong," India said, moving his free hand to rub Romano's back.

"I'm happy about that," Italy said. "The Bonds aren't just important for our strength and loyalty. I also want everyone to be happy. Especially my brothers."

"It's understandable. But what about San Marino and Vatican?"

"The two of them need to go outside a little more," Italy sighed. "See who they're interested in. I can't force them, but I'm still worried about them."

There was a knock, and Romano stirred but didn't waken. Italy sighed as San Marino entered, a faint blush on his cheeks.

"The South Americans have dealt with Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana," San Marino reported. "And Argentina's on her way with Brazil."

"Good," Italy said.

"They're eager for more."

"It doesn't surprise me. They've had a taste, and now they want to make up for lost time. I don't think there's anyone else on their continent that we need, right?"

India shrugged, careful not to wake Romano, and Italy turned back to San Marino, smirking.

"Tell them to go berserk on their continent," Italy said. "And to not forget the islands. They're allowed to draw things out as long as they want to, and they can do whatever they want."

San Marino nodded, looking a little pale.

"You know that they're going to enjoy this a little too much, right?" San Marino asked.

"Let them indulge," Italy said, waving dismissively.

San Marino shuddered, before he left. India just stared at Italy.

"I know that it's one of the ways we can permanently kill nations," India said, "but why do they _have_ to do it?"

"They don't _have_ to," Italy sighed. "They just really enjoy the taste of nation flesh. And human. They're very good at clean-up. By the way, there was something I wanted to ask of you."

"Hmm?"

"I want you to retrieve Laos and East Timor."

"Retrieve? As in…"

"I want them alive. Give some of our guests reason to be good."

India smiled and nodded.

"I'll get right on it, as soon as Lovino is awake," India said.

Italy nodded, smiling.

"I know I've said it before," Italy said, "but please, be good to him."

"You have nothing to worry about," India said. "I would never hurt Lovi. I love him too much."

"But be careful. Even our Bonds can't prevent you from lashing out at him."

…

"Is he going to be okay?" Luxembourg asked, watching France as he paced nervously.

France had called the siblings to join them before the confrontation with Italy, Canada and Egypt, after Spain's corpse had been discovered. France never explained why he specifically wanted the three of them there, but no one bothered to ask.

France had also called Austria and Hungary, and both understood that it had something to do with Prussia.

Netherlands sighed, looking towards the Frenchman as well.

"I have no idea," Netherlands said. "Why don't you go check?"

Luxembourg sighed, before he went over towards France.

"What's wrong?" Luxembourg asked.

"French Guiana was ripped away from me," France said. "I can't sense him through our connection."

Before Luxembourg could ask, they saw England's group return, with an unconscious figure over Russia's shoulder.

"Everyone, to the conference room," England said. "We managed to catch North Korea."

Everyone shared looks, before they hurried off to the aforementioned room.

…

Both Egypt and Canada were sulking as Egypt was forced to dress in his robes and keffiyeh.

Egypt had received a mission, and he would need to leave Canada for this mission. Canada, meanwhile, would probably need to go back to his own country to help deal with America.

…

North Korea groaned, opening his eyes. He had a throbbing headache, but it didn't take him long to realise that he was tied to a chair, and that many nations outside their circle were standing there, glaring at him.

He noticed that his hands were tied behind his back, and he had to suppress a smirk as he tilted his head back.

"Well, looks like I was careless," North said. "Hey, could someone hand me an aspirin or something?"

"And why the hell should we do that?" America demanded.

North winced, before he sighed.

"I'm assuming you're going to interrogate me," North said. "And with someone as loud as you, it would just worsen my headache and make me clam up."

"Nice try," Japan said. "But I remember that you have a pretty high pain tolerance."

North's eyes narrowed, but he shrugged.

"It was worth a shot," he said.

"And having you in pain could prove useful to us," Russia said, smiling while toying with his pipe. "Now, who killed my Baltics?"

"That would be Natalya," North said. "Are you going to punish your sister for that?"

Russia's smile dropped, and North's gaze wandered the room. His eyes landed on the map and he chuckled.

"You don't have enough red or yellow pins," North said. "And yes, I can figure out the colour code."

"Who else?" England demanded.

"I'd rather not mention the reds, but the yellow, I'd say Moldova, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and everyone in Africa, with the exception of Morocco."

"You've been busy," France said. "What did you do to French Guiana?"

"You know, proof of your ego," North said. "You needed to have 'French' in his name."

"Answer me."

"Not my territory, not my problem. I only know through the reports."

"Reports?" England repeated.

"You think we're going to keep each other in the dark?"

"What did you do with Portugal?" China demanded.

North chanced a glance towards China's right hand, and he could see a faint red string. He smirked, before his eyes noticed another string, clashing with China's. He looked up to see Netherlands, and he could tell from his body language that he wanted to know too.

"A love triangle," North said. "Interesting. But don't worry. Portugal is useful to us, so he's safe. Which is more than I can say for… pretty much all of you."

"Who are you targeting next?" England asked.

"I don't know," North said, shrugging. "Italy and Poland decide. And their decisions are often random. So trying to find a pattern is going to be tricky."

"What did you do to Hong Kong, Tibet and Macau?" China demanded.

"They're safe. For now. Macau is the most useful to us. And unless the other two acquire a use, other than being used against you, well…"

"What did you do to Texas?" America demanded.

"Not my territory, not my problem."

"You should know what Mexico did…"

"If she didn't report, then I don't know."

North swept his gaze around the room, and his gaze landed on Wales. He smirked.

"Ah, gentle Wales," North said. "If only I hadn't been interrupted earlier. I could have really sent your country to the ground."

Wales blinked in surprise, but he was nudged by Sealand, who the nations didn't bother sending out.

"You said that you didn't want to reveal any more red locations," England said. "Am I right in assuming that you have spies?"

"If that was the case, would _I_ be here right now?" North asked. "A known member?"

North noticed that Wales seemed to catch on. It was always a good idea to move suspicion away from others in the group.

"What do you hope to achieve?" America asked.

"Simple: we want the world," North said. "Haven't you been able to figure that one out?"

"You've seen what happened to Germany-san," Japan said. "Don't let any of your bosses convince you to do it."

North couldn't help it. He burst out into laughter, and the other nations took a nervous step back.

"I find it amusing that you think humans could be behind this," North said. "Italy originally came up with the idea in the fourth century. Do you _honestly_ think that humans would be involved in this?"

"Why did you join?" China asked. "That's what I want to know."

"Why did I join?" North repeated. His amusement was now completely gone. "Tell me something: do you know _when_ Yong and I joined?"

China and Japan shared a look, before shrugging.

"The time was World War Two," North said. "When we were both under Japanese control. Remember that? Tell me, Japan, how much punishment do you think we _actually_ deserved? You abused us. And when one of your supposed allies came to visit and found us, and then made us a generous offer… Would you blame us for agreeing?"

"What was the offer?" Japan asked.

"You, China, Russia, America… Everyone that's ever wronged us. We will watch you burn to the ground."

"Is that what everyone wants?" England asked, eyes wide in horror.

"No," North said, relaxed again as he shrugged. "Romania's in it for the bloodshed, Poland for the fun, and the South Americans for the carnage they could cause."

"What about Canada?" America asked.

"Canada's a little bit of everything. The first Europeans that he met abandoned him because he was too savage, and he spent about five hundred years stuck being the same age. Do you have any idea what being stuck as a child for that long can do to a nation's psyche?"

Some of the nations winced.

"When the next set of Europeans came," North continued, "Canada assumed his quiet, shy persona, but the nation that chased away the Vikings was still there. Romano saw through it, and promised bloodshed. But through Canada's mask, he faded in the background, in the shadow of his _perfect_ little brother. Again, how do you think that affected his psyche?"

"So you're saying that this is our fault?" England asked.

"In a lot of the cases… Yes."

"I can't help but notice that you're being very cooperative," Russia said.

"You're asking questions that aren't really secrets," North said. "Half of them should be common sense. Oh wait, that's something you all lack."

They narrowed their eyes, and North smirked.

"Then let's see about this one," England said. "Where is your base of operations?"

North smirked, but said nothing.

"Answer me!" England demanded.

"You think I'm going to just divulge _that_ information?" North asked. "You're naïve if you think that's the case."

"I have a question," Japan said. "This is obviously Italy and Poland's master plan, if I'm not mistaken."

"They're our leaders," North said, shrugging.

"You realise that they're just using you, right?" Japan continued. "It's impossible for so many of you to be involved and be equal. We saw it before. You would betray each other."

"Not likely," North said. "We have a few precautions in place. France actually knows."

"Quoi?" France asked.

"The point is, the bonds between us are too strong. We're not going to betray each other."

"And you're going with something as cheesy as 'bonds'?" America scoffed.

From his corner, Wales smirked, having been informed of the meaning of the ribbons by the micronations.

"Who are your current targets?" England asked. "And don't try to tell me that you don't know."

North kept his mouth closed, not even a smirk on his face.

"It's someone among us, isn't it?" England asked.

North simply shrugged. Scotland moved forwards and grabbed him by the front of the shirt.

"Answer us, you piece of shit," Scotland said.

"You know what I find interesting?" North asked. "People that say their cause is worth dying for. That's just stupid. If you die, you're not useful anymore, and you end up looking stupid. And South's been providing me with some of your spy movies, England and America. Cyanide pills to avoid interrogation? Pathetic."

"What are you blabbering about?" Scotland demanded.

"Dying is easy and cowardly," North said, a dark smirk on his face. "And those lengths aren't far enough for us."

North opened his mouth wide, sticking his tongue out. Before anyone could process what he was doing, he slammed his mouth shut again, catching his tongue in the process.

Scotland jumped back when he felt something slimy, and looking at North Korea's lap, he saw something disgusting.

A grunt was all that North gave to acknowledge his pain, and the blood dripping from his mouth told the nations all they needed to know.

North Korea had bitten off his own tongue.

…

Belarus cried out, clamping both hands over her mouth. Switzerland and South saw this, and exchanged a look.

"I think we should get ready to move out," Switzerland said.

Both males noticed that Belarus's hands trembled with rage.

…

Confederacy watched with a bored expression as Mexico paced, mumbling insults and curses in Spanish. Confederacy understood what was being said, but she preferred not to listen. It had become boring more than an hour ago.

"The nerve of that girl."

Confederacy shook her head at the English statement, and she sighed.

"I think it would be safer for you to kill the little bitch then," Confederacy said. "Before you have a civil war on your hands. Trust me, I know how that works."

Mexico rounded on the American, a grin on her face.

"Si," she said. "I'll kill the little chica, before she can become a nuisance. But I want to torture her first."

Confederacy smiled, walking closer to Mexico.

"I'm sure you would enjoy that," Confederacy said. "I'll help, if you want."

Mexico wrapped her arms around the other, gazing tenderly into her blue eyes.

"I wouldn't mind," Mexico said. "As long as we do things together, anything will be wonderful."

Confederacy smiled, before leaning closer to close the distance between them.

…

The nations stared in horror as blood gushed from North's mouth. They were shocked, to say the least.

North kept his mouth firmly closed, swallowing a few times, but every now and again he would start to cough, allowing more blood to pour out of his mouth.

Russia was the first to recover, but even he looked at North in horror. He grabbed the nation's head, tilting it up to look at him.

"You may have bitten off your tongue," Russia said. "But you can still write. We'll find the answers."

North stared at him for a moment, looking dazed. All at once he seemed to gain composure, and he smirked, before a _crack_ sound could be heard.

Russia blinked, stepping away from North as a second _crack_ was heard. Then they realised with sick horror what he was doing.

"Bloody hell," England said, running to North's back. "Japan, give me your sword."

Another _crack_ , and Japan wordlessly handed his katana to England, who prepared to cut the bonds.

North suddenly lurched, and the nations watched in horror as he started vomiting blood, having swallowed a significant amount. Some of the nations looked a little green.

When England managed to cut North's bonds, he and Scotland grabbed the wrists, separating the hands, but it was too late.

North had managed to break most of his fingers, even during the vomiting.

"Wales," England said, "get him cleaned up, and try to stop the bleeding. He'll heal."

North started to laugh, and Wales wordlessly took him, a little annoyed at being bossed around, but at least he could help his true ally.

No one noticed that the micronations didn't even flinch.

North continued to laugh insanely as Wales led him out of the room, and the nations were left with one message: The nations of Amodi would go to extreme lengths to get what they want, and to keep their plans safe.

 **The parts with North Korea didn't go** _ **quite**_ **as I planned, but the important parts are there: the biting off of the tongue, and the breaking of the fingers. I've been planning that for** _ **months**_ **. And the vomiting of the blood is a little more recent in my planning. At the beginning of the year I had my wisdom teeth removed, and I apparently swallowed a lot of blood. I was lying on my back, and didn't have enough time to call the nurse before my stomach started twisting.**


	24. Chapter 23

**Thanks to FSQueen030, Abc, snowgem33, ANIMEisLIKEHISTORY, fishstick1999, ScandinavianTrash, topaz3, KathAmbrosius67, Cardfighter By Maple and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 23**

Wales had North Korea's arm draped over his shoulder as he led the other to the nearest bathroom. He could feel eyes on his back, someone making sure that he wasn't attacked by the prisoner.

If only they knew.

"That might have been a _little_ too far," Wales said, his voice low. "Was that really necessary?"

North gave the faintest of nods, and Wales sighed. He turned around to see that it was Northern Ireland keeping watch over him. The thought made him feel a little angrier. His brothers didn't trust him to protect himself. How typical.

"Could you get him some of my clothes for him to wear?" Wales called out. "I don't think we should leave him this bloody."

And besides, he had been ordered to clean him up. He was just doing as he was told.

"Alright," Northern Ireland called back, before running towards Wales's room.

North Korea chuckled, and he made an effort to grab Wales's left hand with his own. Wales frowned in confusion, before he brought his hand closer for the other to grab.

" _They don't suspect anything."_

Wales jumped, and he looked at North Korea, who smirked in amusement. The words had resonated deep inside the Welshman's mind.

" _There were times when there were too many enemies present,"_ North Korea said, his mouth not moving at all. _"I also can't speak at the moment, so we're using this method."_

" _Would have been nice if the micronations told me about this,"_ Wales said, projecting his thoughts to the other. _"I suppose it's the ribbons?"_

" _Yes. We can't afford for you to be under suspicion. Which is why, when the others come for me and if you get in their way, you will need to take a dive."_

" _I had a feeling it's something like that. The micronations also told me to get my cell phone synchronised with yours."_

North nodded his head.

" _Give it to me while you're supposed to help me get cleaned,"_ North said. _"I think it's the only time we'll have an opportunity."_

" _Was all that really necessary?"_ Wales asked.

" _Of course. We're alone, aren't we? Although,_ you _being the one that has to help me is a stroke of luck."_

" _It's a good thing they don't suspect me then. They also don't expect me to hurt you."_

" _Gentle Wales. If only they knew. But if all goes well, then by the time they figure it out, it would already be too late."_

Wales nodded his head, a smirk on his face.

They reached the bathroom, and Wales helped North out of his clothes so that he could take a shower.

Wales jumped a little when there was a knock, and he opened it to see Northern Ireland with some of his clothes.

"Thanks," Wales said, taking the clothes.

"Do you need some help?" Northern Ireland asked.

"No thanks. I can handle it."

"Are you sure? What if he decides to attack you?"

Wales was _really_ starting to get annoyed, and the only way he allowed himself to show it was by sighing.

"I've been through my own fair share of wars," Wales said. "I can take care of myself."

"Are you sure?" Northern Ireland asked.

"Of course."

"Alright. When you're finished, could you keep him in your room? Tie him up, but don't let his hands be together."

Wales had a smile on his face, but he could feel as it became strained, even if it _was_ small.

"Sure," Wales said, before he closed the door.

Wales felt his smile drop, and his eyes twitched in annoyance when he heard North Korea chuckle. He turned towards the Korean.

"Does South ever treat you like that?" Wales asked.

Through the shower's glass, Wales could make out North shaking his head, and he sighed in frustration.

"They boss me around," he muttered, "and they think I'm incapable of doing anything. That's never changed." He turned towards North. "Make sure to tell Italy that I'm willing to do _anything_ to them."

Wales could hear North chuckle again, and he started thinking of scenarios where he could be useful to his allies. He also pictured his brothers' faces when they realised that he had betrayed them.

Those thoughts brought a smirk to his face.

…

Michoacán was pacing nervously. She knew that Mexico wouldn't be happy with her declaration of separation, and knew that the nation would retaliate.

She could handle Mexico when she's prepared, but if there was a sudden attack, then she would be in trouble. She was good with sneak attacks and clever tactics, but she was still a state, and the nation was far stronger.

Her strength from the time she was a kingdom had diminished greatly, but if she succeeded in breaking free of Mexico, then that strength would be able to rebuild itself.

But she was sure that Mexico wouldn't give her that chance.

She was torn between wanting to stay in her land, where she could take care of her people, and needing to find a safe refuge.

What did they always say? Safety first?

But now came another problem: _where_ was it safe? Even America was under attack.

America…

Well, at the very least, it would piss off Mexico, and America would most certainly be against Amodi. And if she couldn't find safety with him, he could at least send her to one of his allies that _could_ keep her safe.

She had several members of her cartel tell her what they discovered. And it would seem that Amodi liked to target the personifications themselves, and not the land or people.

It was certainly faster.

Her mind made up, she went to her computer, where she kept a database with all the nations' information. At the very least, she would be able to get America's cell phone number.

…

"What did he mean when he said you know?" England asked, looking at France.

"Je ne sais pas, mon ami," France said. "Unless it's ancient magic that Rome told us about."

"How is it that you don't believe in my magic, but you'll believe in the magic that Rome told you about?"

"Because your magique is the type that the humans believed in," France said. "The ones that went into superstition, and let's not forget the witch trials. But what Rome told us about is magic that is applicable only to nations, and is part of who we are."

"Then why don't _I_ know about it?"

"Because Rome went through the trouble of experimenting and told the Romance nations a lot."

"Of course he did."

"I did some experimenting as well," China said, "but I don't think I've discovered as much as Rome did."

"I know this is going to be difficult for you," England said. "But try to think about what it could mean."

"Are you implying something, rosbif?" France asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't start," Netherlands said. "This is not the time to be fighting amongst each other."

France and England both backed down, knowing that Netherlands was right.

Japan was over by the map, placing the yellow pins where North Korea had said they had conquered more land. He couldn't help but feel guilty about what North had said.

It was true. Half of the 'punishments' Japan had inflicted on the two Koreans was undeserved, and then there were other things that he had done to their lands and people. It wasn't odd that they had grown to hate him.

Thinking back, he realised that their personalities had changed drastically after the Second World War. South had been a little more subdued before, though still cheerful, and North had been friendlier. He couldn't understand how he had missed something as obvious as that.

But then the realisation hit him: war changed people. Nations had always been a little different after every war they had fought. It came with the trauma, new leaders, new ideologies… That's why they didn't notice.

It was clever. Italy had recruited them during a war, when it was natural for a nation to change. And so no one had noticed said change.

"What are you thinking of?"

Japan turned to see Greece, who was looking between him and the map. Japan sighed.

"I was thinking about how they could have fooled us by pretending to be who they were not," Japan said. "North and South Korea haven't been involved as long as the others, and they had also had a change of personality. I was just thinking about how they could have managed that, and I think I know."

"And?" Greece prompted.

"War. They changed their personalities during the last World War, and because war changes people…"

"They managed to pull off a change in demeanour as well," China finished, having listened in on the conversation. "Now that you mention it, Yong Soo wasn't as annoying before the war, and he certainly didn't try to 'claim our breasts', but afterwards…"

"Dudes, that's messed up!" America exclaimed.

"I agree," England said. "We know how thoroughly they've planned this. Now what do we do?"

Before anyone could say something, America's phone started ringing. He frowned, not recognising the number, before he answered it.

"Hello?" America said.

"Is this America?" a Spanish-accented voice asked from the other end.

"Yeah, this is the hero."

A lot of the other nations facepalmed upon hearing what the American said.

"This is Michoacán," the other person said, unfazed. "I'm one of Mexico's states."

America's expression instantly darkened.

"What do you want?" America asked.

"I'm on your side," the other said. "I disagree with what Mexico and the rest of her group is doing. I have already started a separatist movement. Check the news if you don't believe me. But the thing is, I need a safe place to stay. I'm in a vulnerable position. I'll be an asset, I promise."

America was thoughtful for a while, before he sighed.

"Alright," he said. "How fast can you get to London?"

"As soon as possible."

"Great. Call me if you get here."

America hung up the phone, before turning to the others.

"That was one of Mexico's states," America explained. "She's going against Mexico, and needs a place to stay."

"I see," England said. "With all that's going on, I'm sure some of the states, regions, provinces and others like them would feel threatened."

"'Little Conquest'," France said. "It's when smaller areas within a nation are either killed or captured. If they're captured, then they can be rescued, but if they're killed, then it would be impossible to reclaim the land from the victor."

"Any luck figuring out what North Korea was referring to?" England asked.

"Non," France sighed. "I am cursing the fact that Rome told us that much."

"I'm sure it will come to you," Ukraine said, smiling gently.

"If it's something really important," Turkey said, "then it _better_ come soon."

…

Wales had given North his phone, and the other was working surprisingly well with broken fingers. They left the shower running so as not to arouse suspicion.

Finally North handed the phone back, and Wales smiled in thanks. North reached out for the other's hand again.

" _When the world's communication fails them, we'll be able to keep in touch,"_ North said. _"You've also got all our numbers, and any texts you receive from us will automatically be erased in 24 hours. And any calls to or from us will also not be displayed in your call log."_

" _So now, if anyone grows suspicious of me, they wouldn't find any evidence on my phone,"_ Wales said.

North nodded, before he went to turn off the shower.

"We probably need to go now," Wales said. "We can't let anyone think that something is wrong."

…

Romano was sulking. He had wanted to go with India on his mission, but Italy had advised him to stay. There was apparently something he wanted to speak to him about.

…

France was running North Korea's interrogation through his head, trying to figure out what the other meant. Perhaps he had left a clue in something he had said.

 _A love triangle. Interesting._

That stood out to France. Why would North Korea be interested in other nations' love lives?

 _Am I right in assuming that you have spies?_

 _If that was the case, would_ I _be here right now?_

Something about that seemed wrong. North Korea was captured in England's home. If he had been spying, he should have known that there would be no one there.

Or perhaps he _did_.

 _Everyone that's ever wronged us._

That part seemed to echo in France's mind. A lot of the Amodi nations appeared to bear some sort of grudge.

 _You would betray each other._

 _Not likely. We have a few precautions in place. France actually knows._

What was he supposed to know? And more importantly, why even _say_ that he knew?

 _The bonds between us are too strong._

France paused there, his eyes wide. Why would the other say it like that? Unless…

"Mon dieu," France whispered, before he ran out of the room.

He knew that North Korea would be kept in Wales's room, and so ran towards it. He slammed the door open, seeing that Wales was in the process of tying North to a chair. North seemed far too cooperative, but France had other problems to worry about.

"Show me your hands," France ordered, eyes on North Korea.

North smirked, before ribbons appeared on his hands. Black on the left, red on the right. France widened his eyes in horror.

France could hear other nations approaching, but he paid them no heed. His gaze was fixed on the ribbons.

Their bonds were too strong. Unbreakable. They couldn't betray each other, no matter what. The thought couldn't even cross their minds. And they wouldn't betray each other under torture.

But there was another reason why North Korea had told them about it, and the possibilities made France nervous.

"France?" Wales asked. "What's going on?"

"Make sure he is secured," France said. "Lock the door, then come. I have bad news."

The way North Korea was smirking… He was enjoying this way too much. France turned away and left, ignoring the other nations demanding an explanation.

He still needed to figure out _how_ he was going to explain it to them.

…

"We're almost there," South said, looking towards Belarus.

The woman didn't react, too busy staring out the window while drumming her fingers. South and Switzerland shared a glance, before Switzerland turned his attention back to the road.

They both knew that Belarus was in the right frame of mind to want to kill.

…

"What is it?" England demanded of France as soon as Wales joined them.

"Their name is a combination of 'amo' and 'odi'," France said, more to himself. "I should have realised it sooner. The precautions that North Korea said they have in place are the bonds of love and hate."

"Dude, that sounds super cheesy," America said.

France ignored him.

"These bonds are created when two nations share something," France said. "They show themselves through threads. Red for love, and black for hate. The red threads are connected to two lovers, as well as anyone that helped the lovers get together. The black threads are formed when someone hates another and a third one helps the first with revenge."

"Is that all?" England asked.

"Non, there's more. The stronger the bonds are, the stronger the thread. At its weakest, it resembles sewing thread. Easily breakable. But at its strongest, it resembles ribbons. Unbreakable. North Korea had ribbons around his hands, and I think it's safe to assume that the others would have them too."

"So, they can't betray each other because of these ribbons?" China asked. "What happens if they do?"

"It is unhealthy for them," France sighed. "But with those bonds, thoughts of betrayal wouldn't even cross their minds. No matter what we do. It's quite alarming, actually."

"You seem far too alarmed for it to just be a way of preventing betrayal," Japan said.

"Oui. The bonds can also be used to strengthen each other. A nation's base strength increases by ten percent for everyone that is connected to those threads. Assuming that everyone in Amodi is connected, how strong would _one_ of them be?"

"At least twice their normal strength," Russia said, looking worried.

"And unfortunately, it counts for _each_ colour, which means if they're all connected to them, they should each be three times stronger than they would have been. But there's more, and it's especially important for the red thread. If one of them is in danger, their strength doubles even more."

"Doubles?" England said. "So that makes them six times stronger."

"And now comes the terrifying part," France said. "For every injury the one in danger sustains, the power grows by ten percent. And as for the lover, their power increases tenfold."

"Bloody hell," England gasped, looking horrified.

"With all that power," America said, "why didn't he try to escape from us?"

"That's where the bad news comes in," France said. "We've been played, mes amis. North Korea _wanted_ to be captured, but for what purpose, I don't know. But I'm going to go with the assumption that North Korea has allies waiting nearby, and if one of them is his lover…"

"What would happen?" America asked, looking pale.

"Then whoever it is would be in a blind rage, and would not hesitate to kill in as brutal and as painful a way as possible. And with that much strength behind them, not even weapons could stop them."

…

North Korea smirked. He could sense Belarus getting closer. And she would certainly not be happy about his injuries.

Killing himself would be useless. It would achieve nothing. But injuring himself, especially in such a harsh way, would help his allies greatly. And since he had such a high pain tolerance, he was the best choice for this.

Now he just had to wait for the others to come, before they could complete the mission.

 **One or two of you thought that it was a little too easy when North got caught. Well, you were right.**


	25. Chapter 24

**Thanks to ColoredAugust, snowgem33, Cardfighter By Maple, fishstick1999, ScandinavianTrash, topaz3, magicflyingmintbunnies, , pastaaddict, 12Green Rose18 and Time Turner for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 24**

Wales had wandered off from the rest of the nations. After hearing France talking about the Bonds and what the benefits would be, he knew that he had to see for himself.

He went outside, making sure that he stayed out of the sight of England's cameras. He had taken the time to learn their locations, and knew exactly where to go to avoid being seen. He went towards a blind spot, where a huge tree could be found. Normally, he would never _think_ of doing something like that, but he was curious.

He clenched his fist, before launching it at the tree. He was thrilled when the tree came crashing down, and he didn't even feel pain in his hand. Luckily, the tree wasn't anywhere near a fence, otherwise that would have created a bit of a stir. He only hoped that the other nations would think that the tree had already fallen before they arrived.

Or that it fell when the others came.

He could feel them coming closer, and he supposed that they would be there in the next three minutes. Now, he could either pretend to go for a stroll, or he could go inside, wait for the inevitable to happen, or…

He looked towards the felled tree, a smirk on his face.

…

Switzerland, South and Belarus arrived at the base, and they decided to take the way through the woods. They didn't need to take a lot of things with them, just the devices and the weapons.

As they neared the base, they each felt a tug at the black ribbon, in a direction that was not the base. They shared a glance, before going towards that direction first.

They found a large, felled tree with Wales lying on top of it. He opened his eyes, sensing their approach.

"What are you doing?" Switzerland asked.

"I heard that the ribbons are supposed to give us extra strength," Wales explained. "I came to test it out. And then I felt you approaching, and…"

"And you thought that, since you wouldn't have time to get back inside, you'd make it look as though we did this to you," South finished.

"Is that alright?"

"It's brilliant," Switzerland said. "Anything to draw suspicion away from you. Though, your lack of injuries won't make it convincing. If you want, we can help you with that."

Wales nodded his head, and South smirked, stepping closer.

"Sorry about this," South said. "Even if you're an ally, I wouldn't be able to hold back. But try to make your body as soft as possible."

Wales simply sighed, nodding his head.

"As long as it's convincing," he said.

"Oh trust me," South said. "It will be."

…

North waited patiently for the others to arrive. He could sense their presence, and wondered what was keeping them.

The door opened, and he smiled when he saw Hutt River standing at the door.

"The computer room is right, three hallways, then right again," Hutt River said. "I think things are about to go down very soon."

North nodded his head, both in acknowledgement of what he had said and in thanks for the information he had provided.

It would make part of his job easier.

…

"This isn't good," America said, as England was pacing nervously. "If North Korea really _wanted_ to be captured, then…"

"What is he after?" Russia finished.

"Je ne sais pas," France said, "but I have a feeling that it won't be good. It was too elaborate, and the things he did to himself…"

"It was unnecessary," England said. "He didn't even need to hack into my computer. If he wanted to be captured, then that couldn't have been his plan."

"That also explains why he didn't attack Wales when they got him cleaned up," Northern Ireland said. "He was exactly where he wanted to be."

"But for what purpose?" Ireland asked.

They were interrupted from their musings when they heard a loud crash, followed by the alarms going off.

"Looks like we're about to find out what this is all about," England said, as many of the nations went towards the commotion.

…

"Scatter," South said. "Nat, keep them busy."

"With pleasure," Belarus said, running straight ahead.

"You know where to go, right?" South asked, looking at Switzerland.

"Si," Switzerland said. "Sealand had been kind enough to give me the layout."

"The same here. Avoid the main fight, but search for the targets. Notify me if you found one."

"Of course."

They had devised a communications' device a long time ago. The microphone would be implanted in one of their molars, and the earpiece looked just like an earplug. It was actually very inconspicuous. Belarus had one on as well, and so had the micronations.

They could just pretend that they had an ear infection if it drew attention.

And so South turned left, and Switzerland went right, and they wouldn't stop until they've located their targets.

…

North smirked when he heard the bang. That meant that the others had arrived at last. Of course, he had already known they were there.

He broke the bonds that held him, laughing at the other nations' naivety. Did they _really_ think that it would keep down one of _them_?

He exited the room, briefly wondering what Wales was up to, before he turned right, following Hutt River's instructions.

Oh, he was going to have so much fun.

…

Morocco stayed behind while the other nations had gone to investigate the bang. Something bothered her.

She was staring at the map, specifically, South Africa.

Japan had placed both a blue and a yellow pin to signify that one part of the country was with them, while the other part had been captured by their enemies.

What bothered her was the fact that North Korea hadn't said a word about it earlier. He had figured out the colour code, after all, so he should have seen the abnormality in the southern part of the continent. The enemies weren't supposed to know about Black.

But what if they did?

Her eyes widened at the possibility. They knew about Black South Africa. That meant that they would most likely try to fix their mistake. During a war, if one country was divided, and only one part was under someone's control, then the other side would try to change that.

So why didn't North Korea say anything about South Africa?

Was it possible that he already knew about Black South Africa prior to being captured? No, _letting_ himself be captured. They were planning something.

Morocco sighed, trying to get her mind off it. She tried to look at it from a new perspective. From the enemy's perspective. A military perspective.

They almost had an entire continent under their control. They were so close to having it _completely_ under their control. There were just two things stopping them from having it all.

And if they were smart, they would try to fix it as soon as possible.

Her eyes widened in realisation. That was exactly what they were doing. They were trying to fix it. They would come for her and Black.

She didn't know how many enemies were attacking at the moment, but what she did know was that she was alone. Which meant she had to join the others for her own safety.

But when she turned to leave, she froze in her spot, seeing the nation leaning against the doorframe.

"Hello, Morocco."

…

Poland smirked, before he opened the door to White's room. He was pleased to see that she had started to read one of the books, even if she had gone a few shades pale and her hand, which was buried in her hair, started to tremble violently.

"Why?" she whispered.

"You need to be more specific," Poland said.

"Why did you give me _this_ to read?!" she snapped, looking at him.

Her eyes were red, and he could see that she was fighting hard not to cry. Poland was pleased to see that.

"You need to remember that England is not your ally," he said. "You need to remember what he did to you and your people. The innocents suffered greatly. And has he ever apologised for it?"

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she shook her head. Poland crouched in front of her, taking her chin in his hand and lifting her head to look at him.

"I was technically still under Russia's control," Poland said. "I wasn't allowed to enter a formal alliance with you. But I still came. Me, Italy and Romano. We came to help you. The others sent their people and weapons, but the three of us _personally_ came to support you."

"But you have India and Canada," she whispered. "And they helped England."

"They didn't want to. England forced them. And besides, haven't _they_ already apologised to you? Haven't _they_ tried to make amends? Didn't Canada make Mandela an honorary Canadian citizen?"

"…What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?"

"Think of it as your punishment for staying quiet about your friend. Be glad we don't have any concentration camps."

"Asseblief…" she whispered, eyes wide.

"Don't worry. We're not going to do that. I've been to Auschwitz…"

"Auschwitz was kinder," she said in a small voice.

"Point is, I know what it's like in a concentration camp. And so does Israel."

She was silent, and Poland smirked internally. It would actually be good for them if they managed to get her and Israel together. One more red ribbon to join the network.

Not to mention the two's history with nuclear weapons.

"By the way," he said, "where was Black during all of this?"

She avoided his eyes, and he knew he struck a nerve.

"I see," Poland said. "He was on England's side."

"Just leave me alone," she said in a small voice. "Asseblief."

Poland smirked, before leaving the room. If she knew what they had in store…

He went to find Italy, and pecked him on the cheek when he did.

"One of our prisoners has been taken down a few pegs," Poland said. "Are you going to deal with the other?"

Italy smirked, before he leaned in to kiss Poland on the lips. He chuckled when he pulled back.

"It would be more effective if we had a new arrival to taunt him with," Italy said. "And besides, the others have already infiltrated England's base of operations. I don't want to be in the middle of playing when they get here."

"Fair enough," Poland said, shrugging. "So, shall we see who our next targets would be?"

"You know me so well."

…

"WHERE IS HE?!"

Belarus was in a rage, attacking anyone that got close to her, and when no one got close to her, she started throwing knives at the other nations. Most nations decided to hide, but when she couldn't get her hands on anyone, she went closer and attacked.

"Out of all the nations North Korea could have had a relationship with," England said, "it had to be _Belarus_?"

"Who he's with doesn't matter," France said. "We would have had the same reaction if it was Italy… Sorry, wrong example. It would have been the same with one of the Baltics. As the Nordics would say, they'd go berserk. They fly into a rage, and their strength becomes phenomenal, and they don't stop their rampage until their lover is safe again."

Russia was somewhat glad to see that his sister didn't really love him (although platonically would still have been alright), but it disturbed him how effectively she had managed to pretend she _was_ in love with him. In fact, she had always been obsessed.

That's when it hit him. How she managed to pretend for so long: her obsession. Hate could also be an obsession.

She had just managed to pass it off as being in love with him.

And the proof that her farce was over: she no longer wore the dress he had given her so long ago. Now she wore a black halter top with loose-fitting black pants, black boots and with her hair in a ponytail. It actually looked nice with her.

At the moment, no one dared to go near the angered Belarusian. Everyone was hiding behind the corners, or behind the rubble of the walls she had destroyed.

Black was hiding as well, and he looked at the insane nation with pure fear in his eyes. He'd never seen _anyone_ looking that scary.

He suddenly felt desperate tugging on the back of his shirt, and he turned to see Sealand and Wy, their eyes wide in fear.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed angrily.

"We thought we could fight like real nations and maybe get recognised," Sealand said. "But…"

Black sighed.

"Go then," he said, turning back to face the insane nation.

"We're scared," Wy said. "Come with us."

Black glanced towards the crazy nation before he turned back to the micronations, sighing and nodding his head. As discreetly as they could, they fled the scene.

Belarus saw Black leave with the micronations out of the corner of her eye, and she had to contain a smirk. All according to plan.

She turned her attention back to the nations cowering, and she decided to take a more direct approach. She went towards one of the corners, preparing her knife to strike.

But when she saw the familiar blue eyes of the other nation, she had something else in mind.

The hand not holding the knife whipped out, grabbing Ukraine by the throat and dragging her up to eye-level. As an extra measure, Belarus sank her nails into Ukraine's skin.

"Nat…" Ukraine gasped, clawing at her sister's hand.

"Oh, I've wanted to do this for a _long_ time," Belarus said, digging her nails in deeper. She could see beads of blood around her fingers. "You were always so pathetic."

"Stop!" Russia shouted, emerging from his hiding place.

Belarus smirked, digging her nails in even deeper.

"Privet, brat," she said. "It's been a while."

"Leave her alone," Russia said.

Belarus cocked her head to the side.

"Or what?" she asked. "Are you going to hit me with your pipe? Do you think you _can_?"

Russia hesitated. While she was the enemy, and clearly insane, she was still his younger sister. Could he really do that to her?

He decided to at least try to pry her hand away from Ukraine. She saw what he was doing, and poised to strike.

The moment Russia moved, her hand, which was still holding the knife, whipped out and stabbed him in the arm. He grunted in pain, and she released Ukraine in favour of grabbing his arm, and with the momentum she had built, she threw him across the hallway.

The other nations stared in horror, seeing how strong Belarus was, and knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance.

Ukraine coughed, before she scrambled away, blood dripping down her neck from five puncture wounds. Belarus watched the other for a moment, before she licked the fingers that were still stained with blood.

"I can see now why the South Americans are so fond of cannibalism," she said, before chuckling.

The other nations watched, no one daring to get too close, but knowing that she needed to be stopped.

…

Black was running, the two micronations following him. He ignored his feeling of unease that he had around the pair in favour of getting to safety.

He turned a corner and immediately froze.

Standing not three metres away from him was South Korea, leaning casually against the wall. The Korean smirked when he saw him.

"Thanks," South Korea said.

"No problem."

Black's eyes widened, before he turned to face the micronations. Seeing the smirks on their faces confirmed his suspicions.

"You've been working with them all along," he whispered.

"Of course," Wy said. "With the promise of becoming true nations, why wouldn't we?"

Black turned his attention back to South Korea, swallowing nervously.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Can't you figure it out?" South Korea asked. "We've got one part of a nation. We're missing the other part. We want _you_."

"All of this is just because you wanted _me_?"

"Of course. You and White South Africa can share information between yourselves without breaching the contract, and _you_ can share that information with our enemies. We can't allow you to roam free. And England and the others knew that, which was why they didn't inform Italy when he asked about you. So we had to infiltrate, and then we had to distract. You're our main target."

"But not your only target," Black said, stepping back. "What are you going to do with me?"

South Korea took out two little balls. He threw one to Sealand, who caught it expertly.

"Give that to Hyung," South Korea said, stepping closer. "I'll take him."

Black tried to run, but the two micronations blocked him before South could grab him. South smirked, before throwing the ball to the ground, causing the hallway to be filled with smoke. Once the smoke cleared, they were gone.

…

White looked up when Poland entered the room again, and he smirked down at her.

"Come with me," he said, before he dragged her to her feet. "We've got a little surprise for you."

She went along, in no mood to fight. At least, until they arrived in the living room, where her eyes widened.

"Themba!" she shouted, trying to run to her colleague, but Poland pinned her arms behind her back.

Black was held between South Korea and Canada, and he struggled when he saw her.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted.

"She's not the one you should be worried about," Italy said, holding a pistol in his hand. "After all, she's the one that belongs to us."

"What are you going to do to him?!" White shouted, but Italy ignored her, eyes on Black.

"The way I see it, you have two choices," Italy said. "Either you agree to join us now, or you will die."

"The choice is simple then," Black said, looking towards White. "I'd rather die than join you."

"NEE!" White shouted. "Jou moffel! Don't you dare!"

"Fine," Italy said, cocking the gun as he moved behind Black. "Any last words?"

Black sighed, before looking at White. He smiled at her.

"'Sounds the call to come together'," he sang, "'and united we shall stand. Let us live and strive for freedom…'"

"'In South Africa our land'," White whispered.

 _BANG!_

 **The part that Black sings and White whispers is the English stanza of the South African national anthem, and is also the song's ending.**

 **As mentioned, White is the former Boer Republics, and the region would be the Orange Free State and Transvaal, while Black is the former Zulu Empire which would be in Natal. During the years of Dutch Cape, White was the Cape as well, but just before the Great Trek it became British territory, and when White left that part of the country with her people, she allowed Black to have it due to the Xhosa influence. So White is Transvaal and Free State, while Black is Cape and Natal. And in the Boer War, asides from England, the Boer Republics also fought against the South Africans in the British territory, which happened to be Cape and Natal. And then there was the fact that a lot of blacks chose to fight with England because they were promised freedom from their Boer masters, and a lot of the black workers betrayed the farmers they worked for. But a lot of them were then betrayed by England and sent to concentration camps, and even in the camps they acted as spies for the British.**

 **I once overheard two of my friends explaining to our Spanish friend that the Afrikaners still have a grudge about the Boer War (which is true), and one of them said that the Nazi concentration camps were kinder, since they were** _ **meant**_ **to kill, and it wasn't as drawn out. While the Boer War concentration camps were originally meant to be refugee camps, but due to a lack of planning and foresight, instead of protecting the women and children, the concentration camps were basically a death sentence. There were concentration camps for blacks and whites (and that's one of the reasons why we say England was to blame for Apartheid). In the white camps, 116 572 Boers were held prisoner, and 1 676 men (most too old to go on commando), 4 177 women and 22 074 children died, while in the black camps 115 700 were kept prisoner while officially around 14 154 people died, but it's possible that it was at least 20 000. So White isn't too fond of the idea of concentration camps.**

 **England called in a few of its territories for aid, notably Canada, New Zealand and Australia, but also India and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). And while the Boers didn't have formal allies, they did have foreign volunteers, namely from Italy and Poland. When I remembered that part, I started thinking about how the two of them would have used it to their advantage.**

 **And I'll continue with Morocco next chapter.**


	26. Chapter 25

**Thanks to Lovesbugsalot, Rein of Terror, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, pastaaddict, Cardfighter By Maple, magicflyingmintbunnies, ScandinavianTrash and topaz3 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 25**

All five of her senses were assaulted in a single moment.

Her sense of hearing was assaulted by the sound of the gunshot, echoing throughout the room. Her sense of sight was assaulted by the image of her colleague falling on the ground. Her sense of smell was assaulted by the metallic scent of blood. Her sense of touch was assaulted by the feeling of his warm blood that had splattered on her, including her face. And her sense of taste was assaulted by the metallic flavour of the blood that had made its way into her mouth.

And when the sound of the gun started fading away, her own scream replaced it. A scream of anguish, sorrow and frustration.

"These bullets were designed to kill nations," Italy said. "He's not coming back."

"You bastard!" she shouted. "Why? _Why_?!"

"Loose ends can't be allowed," Italy said. "They could cause the entire fabric to unravel. But I thought you'd be happy."

"And why the _hell_ would I be happy about this?"

"Because now, you're the only South Africa." Italy looked up at Poland. "Take her back to her room."

White didn't react as she was pulled along, too shaken by what she had just seen. Sure, the two of them hardly ever got along, but they were two sides of the same coin. She couldn't imagine being a nation without him.

It had been too long since she was the Boer Republic.

…

Morocco stared at Switzerland, who was casually standing in the doorway, simply staring at her. He was playing with a knife, twirling it around in his hands. He smirked.

"Judging by your facial expression, you already know why I'm here," he said.

"You came for me," she said. "Why go through all this trouble? Why did you _let_ one of your own be captured? Why not just…?"

"You're not our only target. We've also got that nation at the south of your continent. What do you refer to him to again? _Black_ South Africa? Clever. You have the one that makes up the majority of the population."

"So you _did_ know about him."

"Of course we did. We know everything."

They were silent for a moment. Morocco was anxious to see what Switzerland was about to do, while Switzerland still had a calm look on his face.

"What are you going to do now?" Morocco asked.

"I noticed that there aren't any other doors to this room," Switzerland said. "And I have time. No one's nearby."

"I have no choice, do I?"

"No choice. No escape. And if you give me trouble, I'm going to have to hurt you."

"I'll scream," she said. "The others will come running."

"They'll have to get past Belarus first. An angry Belarus that knows that her lover had been hurt."

"He did that to himself!"

"I know. That was the plan. She knows it too. I'm assuming France told you about the ribbons?"

"Yes he did."

"Those ribbons have a nasty little side-effect that our emotions have a huge influence on what we do. Logic is thrown out the window when it comes to our lover, or the ones we hate. Right now, Belarus is only focused on North Korea being hurt, she's not thinking about _how_ he got hurt."

"Why would you do that to yourselves?" she whispered.

"Because it ensures that none of us can betray each other," Switzerland said. "It means that whoever has the ribbons isn't expendable. And it also makes us stronger. And an interesting fact: these Bonds form naturally among nations, but because of the humans' tendency to change who they want us to be allies or enemies with, the Bonds usually break before they could be noticed. And the longer we maintained our alliances, the stronger these Bonds became."

Morocco's eyes widened as she understood. They didn't have a choice.

Switzerland looked to the side, his eyes narrowing for a moment, before he turned back to her. He removed something from his pocket as he took a step closer.

Morocco took a step back, trying to find a way past him. She also wondered how fast he was.

She got her answer when he suddenly lunged at her, and she tried to duck away from him but he managed to catch her wrist, pulling her closer. She opened her mouth to scream, but he released her wrist in favour of clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Should have screamed when you had the chance," Switzerland said, before he threw the ball to the ground.

She saw smoke coming out of the ball, and the next thing she knew she felt extremely dizzy, almost sick.

She didn't know how long it lasted, but suddenly she found herself in a living room, enemies surrounding her and…

"NO!" she shouted, and Switzerland released her as she went to Black's corpse.

"Looks like someone had a bit of a crush," Italy remarked, looking down at her. "Oh well. A Bond broken can be useful as well. Take her to her room."

She struggled as someone grabbed her and dragged her away. He was a lot stronger than her, which meant that her struggles were useless, and soon she found herself being thrown into a room.

The door was locked behind her, and she slowly stood as realisation dawned on her: they now had every nation in Africa under their control. They have completed the Continent Conquest.

…

North Korea was in the computer room, setting up everything he needed to. He smirked, knowing that when he was finished, their enemies would be as well.

He heard footsteps behind him, but he could sense that they didn't belong to an enemy. He turned around to see Sealand and Wy.

"South wanted us to give you this," Sealand said, walking over with a spherical device.

North smirked when he saw what it was. They took inspiration from smoke bombs offering a distraction as the person that threw it ran away. They also applied their shared knowledge of magic and science that they chose not to share with the rest of the world to create these small teleportation devices. And these were good for only one use, which made them obsolete after they've done their job. Not to mention the fact that _if_ they could be reactivated, they had a failsafe which ensured that the coordinates would always lead back to the middle of the ocean or Antarctica, thus preventing the chances of them being traced.

It would seem he had been given his means of escape.

He smiled at the micronations, before signing that he would be finished soon and that they needed to find a place to hide in order to maintain their cover. They nodded, before leaving the room.

He turned back to the screens in front of him, and started with the finishing touches.

…

Confederacy watched as Mexico stared at one of her maps, glaring at the state of Michoacán. It was obvious to the American that Mexico carried a grudge against her former state, and wanted to find a way to stop her.

But Mexico also knew just what Michoacán was capable of, so she had to be smart about it.

The two were distracted when they heard a knock on the door, and Mexico's eyes narrowed. She grabbed a gun before making her way to the front door, opening it and pointing the gun.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw who was on the other side.

"Philippines?" she asked. "What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"I've heard about World War Three," Philippines said. "I've also heard about what you've done to Spain, and I know what you're doing to America."

"And?"

"I want to help you. I want to be part of Amodi."

…

North smirked as he finally finished with the final touches. He carefully returned everything to the way it was before, before standing and holding the device.

He chuckled, before he threw it to the ground. In an instant the room was filled with smoke, and he could feel his body being transported. And when the smoke cleared, he found himself in home base.

The others looked towards him. Italy smirked.

"Did you do what you intended?" he asked.

North nodded.

"So, can you at least tell me who has their eye on Portugal?" Italy asked.

With one hand, North made the 'V' sign, and with the other he allowed his index finger over the two fingertips. Italy frowned.

"A triangle?" Italy asked, and North nodded. Italy smirked. "Interesting. Now, get some rest. You deserve it."

…

America had his arms wrapped around Belarus, trying to restrain her, all while she was taking the opportunity to break his fingers. He gritted his teeth as she did that, and he was waiting for England to finish his incantation.

Belarus then sensed that North was no longer in the building, and she knew that she had to move before her strength failed her.

She managed to flip America over her shoulder, surprising the nations as they tried to scramble away, but were too late. She then drew the teleporter out of her pocket and threw it on the ground.

When the smoke cleared, everyone stared in astonishment.

"Where the heck did she go?" America demanded, looking around.

"A smoke bomb," England said. "Come on. She couldn't have gotten far. We'll find her."

"Are we sure we want to?" France asked.

"She left for a reason," Scotland said. "Just like how she came for a reason."

"North Korea," England said. "We need to see if he's still here."

"And if Will is still alright," Ireland said.

…

When Belarus arrived, she saw as North made his way towards another part of their base. She ran towards him, and he stopped, allowing her to catch up to him.

She threw her arms around him in a hug, and he hugged her back.

"Are you alright?" she asked, and he nodded his head. She looked up at him. "Show me your tongue."

North sighed, but he opened his mouth, allowing her to see that the tip of the tongue was missing. She frowned.

"Why did you do that to yourself?" she asked. "It went too far."

He placed his hand under her chin and tilted it up. In the next instant, he was kissing her, and she immediately melted into the kiss. They pulled apart, and she sighed.

"I guess it will heal in time," she said. "Can we… can we go cuddle?"

He smiled and nodded, and the two of them made their way to an unoccupied bedroom.

…

Hungary had gone outside, seeing if she could find a trace of Belarus. The other couldn't have gotten far, and the sooner they found her, the better.

She saw something past the treeline, and she ran over, taking out her frying pan. But when she saw what it was, she gasped in surprise.

"Wales!"

She ran over to the large felled tree that had the unconscious Welshman lying on top of it, the tree shattered. Blood was seeping into the wood.

Her hands hovered for a moment, not sure how severe Wales's injuries were or where he was injured. Eventually she opted for the shoulders, shaking him until he opened his eyes a little.

"Wales," she tried, "what happened?"

"I came out for some air," he said, his speech a little slurred, "and then… ambush. Belarus, Switzerland and South Korea."

"We only saw Belarus," she said, before moving her hands under him. "Can you stand?"

He nodded, and hissed when she helped him up. She looked towards him with worry, and they carefully made their way back to the base.

"Did they say anything before they attacked you?" she asked.

"No," he said. "They just attacked."

Hungary frowned at the words. They would need to get information of their enemies' base, so why not ask Wales? And why not try to evade him and then minimising the risk of them getting caught?

Something was wrong, but she didn't know _what_.

…

White was crying in her room. She had lost someone that was like family to her, even if they couldn't get along. No one messed with Black except for White, and vice versa. But now there was no one for her to fight with. Her friend was gone.

She looked up when the door opened, expecting Poland to come and taunt her again. Instead, who she saw was Israel, looking at her with worry.

"I heard about what happened," he said. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head, and he calmly walked to the bed. He sat down and immediately wrapped her in a hug.

She clung to him as a fresh wave of tears cascaded down her cheeks. She could feel his grip tighten, and she was thankful for the comfort.

Israel, meanwhile, was mad that she was mourning Black like this. A few years ago, she would have been thrilled with his death, but now…

He shook his head of the thought. He couldn't afford for her to see his true emotions regarding Black South Africa. That could ruin his chances with her.

…

Brazil's eyes widened when he saw the inside of their base. He didn't think that it would be _so_ elegant and almost luxurious. He supposed the villains just enjoyed the finer things in life.

Argentina dragged him along, and he grudgingly went with her. It wasn't long before they reached the living room, and the nations sitting there.

Italy was the one who smirked, coming closer. Brazil took a step back, not liking the smirk at all.

"Looks like our final guest has arrived, for now," Italy said, standing right in front of Brazil.

Brazil flinched when Italy brought his hand to his neck, resting it on the wound that Argentina had made at the juncture.

"I see you had a taste," Italy said, before he turned to Argentina. "Any more of these?"

"No," she said. "I can control myself. I've had years of practice, remember?"

"Si. I've already told the other three that they could go wild on the rest of your continent. Now, would you want to start on the Caribbean Islands?"

Argentina smirked.

"I would enjoy that," she said. "Are there any of them that you want alive?"

"Si," Italy said. "The Dutch nations." Italy turned to Brazil. "It seems Portugal has two admirers"

Brazil flinched, looking to the ground. Italy chuckled.

"Follow me," Italy said.

Brazil was nudged, and he understood that he had to follow Italy. He swallowed nervously, before doing as he was told.

He didn't pay attention to where they went, too scared to think about the reasons why they wanted him there in the first place. Eventually Italy stopped, unlocking a door.

Brazil cried out as he was grabbed and thrown into the room, landing on the ground. He heard two alarmed voices, before someone rushed towards him.

"A little reminder to behave," Italy said, before he closed and locked the door again.

Brazil was helped up, and he could finally see the other two occupants of the room. His eyes widened when he saw Portugal and Macau.

"What's going on?" Brazil asked. "Why did they…?"

"They want me to help them," Portugal said. "Because they believe I can help them with their Bonds."

"They already made sure to bind him with desire," Macau said. "The desire to protect _us_ , his former colonies. And I think they're going to try love next."

"Italy said something about you having admirers," Brazil said, looking at Portugal.

Portugal raised his eyebrows, perhaps in surprise at the plural form.

"Do you know who?" Portugal asked.

"Is now really the time?" Macau asked.

"If Italy and the others know who they are, then they're in trouble," Portugal explained.

"He said there were two," Brazil said. "I think one of them is Netherlands, since he wanted the Dutch Caribbean Islands alive."

Portugal hissed in frustration, a hand on his forehead. After a while, he nodded.

"Sim," he said. "And I think the other one is China."

"That would explain it," Macau said. "Hong Kong and I couldn't figure out if it was you or England that he liked. But he's always been nicer to you than to England."

"And we know that they want China dead," Portugal said, looking green. "They're going to sever the Bond."

"What happens when they do that?"

"The stronger the Bond, the more severe the backlash would be." Portugal revealed the string around his hand. "And it's already pretty strong."

"Is it good or bad?" Brazil asked.

"If the Bond is strong, and it's broken by an outside force… It's bad. If there's a network, like in the case of our enemies… If one of _their_ Bonds is broken, then they will grow stronger in order to compensate. But if one of _mine_ would break… If it gets stronger, then there's a good chance I'd end up catatonic. Or worse."

…

While Italy was taking Brazil to Portugal's room, San Marino arrived. He looked around for a moment, before his eyes settled on Poland.

"He went to take Brazil to Portugal," Poland said. "He'll be back in a moment."

"Alright," San Marino said. "But as co-leader, I might as well tell you too."

"Hm?"

"Mexico called. She said Philippines came to her house, asking to join us. Well?"

Poland looked thoughtful, before turning his attention to Canada.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I know Philippines isn't too fond of America," Canada said. "But will she be a liability or an asset?"

"Who?" Italy asked as he arrived.

"Philippines," Poland said. "She's at Mexico's place, asking to join."

Italy chuckled.

"Those who join us willingly save us the trouble of conquering them," Italy said. "Sure. She could prove useful. Oh, and Matteo, I think it's time you go back. We need your help in implementing Operation Parasite."

Canada smirked, nodding his head.

"I think it's been long enough that our enemies were all in one place," Italy said. "Especially our greatest targets. So it's time to split them apart again."


	27. Chapter 26

**Thanks to SilverStarJones, Toesz, shoujochan, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, FeetInTheAir, reddishpirate0614, ColoredAugust, ScandinavianTrash and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 26**

A day had passed since the attack on their base of operations. England was trying to make plans to get another base, since theirs had been so easily infiltrated.

It didn't take them long to realise that Black and Morocco were gone. Whenever they entered the conference room, they'd look solemnly at the map, particularly the continent that was completely covered in yellow pins.

They should have known better.

They should have figured that they would do something to get Morocco, completing their conquest of Africa. And it scared them that they couldn't find Black. Did they know about him? And if so, _how_?

Wales had spent the entire time in his room, recuperating after being attacked by the members of Amodi. Sealand, Wy and Hutt River went to check up on him every now and again.

At the moment the conference room was empty, save for England, France, Russia, Turkey and China.

"Any idea where America went?" France asked.

"He went to pick up someone from the airport," England said, before he sighed.

"They were too well-prepared," China said.

"You're thinking that there's a spy," Russia said.

"Why wouldn't there be?" China snapped. "It's strategic."

"It's also a good way to make us doubt each other," Turkey said. "If we suspect each other of treachery, then they _still_ have the advantage."

"You're right," England said. "What can we do?"

"Well," China said, "I think we're vulnerable, being in the same place like this."

"Da," Russia said. "We're easy targets, since they all know where we are."

"But we have numbers on our side," England said.

"That didn't help yesterday," Turkey pointed out. "And Belarus was holding back."

"Really?"

"Da," Russia said. "I could see it. She was only toying. If she's going to kill, then she'd do it more harshly."

"And in as cruel a way as possible," Turkey said. "Italy told us how Spain died, right?"

"He didn't go into detail, but oui," France said.

"Didn't he say that he forced Portugal to watch?"

"Indeed," England said. "Where are you going with this?"

"The ones that killed him were former colonies of his, right?"

"I think I understand," Russia said. "Force people close to their victims to watch as they're killed, or allow them to kill them. It's mental torture. I wonder if that's why they chose their members."

"What do you mean?" England asked.

"How many of them were former colonies of yours?" Russia asked. "Those you saw as your friends or family?"

"Canada, Egypt and India," England said, sighing. "But, that doesn't mean…"

"Through Canada, they also have France," Russia said. "And to hurt China, they have the Koreas. And India was my friend, as well as China's."

"Then they have Romania," Turkey said, before he paused. "Wait a minute. Who was Romania's best friend when he was still pretending?"

"Bulgaria," Russia said, his eyes wide. "They're going to hurt him too."

"We know that they're not fighting fair in this war," England said. "And as far as I can tell, they don't care about neutrality."

"They wouldn't," France said. "They don't even let family bonds stop them. And they're obviously not afraid of angering anyone. And their method is actually a legitimate tactic. That way, they don't waste resources. They focus on the nation's personification, and conquer them or get them to surrender. And as for using those close to their targets… Their people become easier to manage if the nation's spirit is broken. Being betrayed by a close friend would do that to you."

"And Romania spent a lot of time getting close to Bulgaria," Turkey said.

"You're worried about your former charge," England said.

"Aren't you?"

"Of course. But I don't think we should focus solely on the ones we care about. I think we should get _everyone_ on board."

"We'd still be easy pickings here," China said. "Especially if there are more of us."

"Then perhaps we should separate," England said. "Go in groups. We'll pick a leader of each group, and then we can communicate via the leaders."

"Oh, I get my Soviet Union back," Russia said, smiling.

"Some of them," China said. "You lost the Baltics, Belarus, Romania…"

"Da," Russia said. "I know."

"It's not a bad idea," France said. "They seem rather reluctant to attack our cities and people."

"For the sake of resources, as you said," Russia said.

"As soon as America arrives, we'll have a meeting with everyone," England said.

"I'll call Bulgaria, in the meantime," Turkey said.

…

Moldova had offered his bed to Côte d'Ivoire, seeing as the African was injured and weak, and the bed wasn't big enough for both of them.

The two of them were still asleep when the door opened. Their instincts forced them to wake up immediately, only to see Romania's bemused face. Romania immediately turned his attention to Côte d'Ivoire.

"Get ready," Romania said. "In an hour, I'll be shipping you off to Abidjan."

Côte d'Ivoire nodded, and Romania turned around. Moldova bit his lip.

"I let him have the bed," Moldova said, and Romania stopped. "He was hurt, and I couldn't let him sleep on the floor."

Romania was still for a moment, before he nodded his head, closing the door behind him.

Côte d'Ivoire stared at the door in confusion, before turning his attention to Moldova, who sighed in relief.

"Care to tell me what that was about?" Côte d'Ivoire asked.

"Brother was mad," Moldova said. "I think he didn't like to see you sleeping in my bed. I think he thought that you took the bed for yourself and made me sleep on the floor. I don't want him to hurt you anymore."

The African nation stared at the European for a moment before he smiled.

"Merci," Côte d'Ivoire said. "For everything."

…

Romania growled, stalking towards the front door. Finland saw him and ran to catch up.

"What's wrong?" Finland asked. "Moldova?"

"Da," Romania said, pausing and looking thoughtful. "I should have done this sooner."

"You need to be more specific," Finland said.

"I'm going to get Bulgaria. If I'm not back in an hour, proceed with Côte d'Ivoire."

Finland nodded, and Romania decided to ignore his previous plan and used magic to reach his destination. Finland sighed, looking at the clock. An hour left.

…

Bulgaria remained in his house. He refused to go out, and he refused to open the door.

He had heard about what was happening in the world. He knew about Amodi, and he knew that Romania was involved. He also knew that Russia was one of the nations that was fighting against them.

He had a feeling that at least one of them would come for him.

He jumped when his phone rang, and he hesitated before he answered it.

"H-hello?" he asked.

"You're still alright, yeah?"

"Turkey? Yeah, I'm alright."

"Listen, have you heard about what's going on?"

"World War Three? I know. I know that Romania's involved."

"That makes it easier. We think that you might be a target. Romania spent a lot of time getting close to you. You need to come with us."

Bulgaria sighed, trying to determine if Turkey was honestly worried about his wellbeing and if it was for the best.

Before he could answer, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around and his eyes widened.

"Romania!" he shouted.

Romania scowled, before he shoved the Bulgarian against the wall. Bulgaria dropped the phone, and Romania stomped on it. Bulgaria was sure that Turkey had said something on the other end, but it was unclear.

"Did Turkey tell you that we'll come after you?" Romania asked, before he smirked. "Because he's right."

"P-please," Bulgaria said. "Don't…"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you. Did you know that Moldova is pretty fond of you? You are his big brother's best friend, after all. He trusts you and cares about you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I never wanted to hurt Moldova. He's my little brother. But I knew that I had to play my cards right to get him by my side. But that was ruined when he saw the nation I was torturing, and now he's closer to _him_ than to _me_. I'm aware that he sees me as a monster, and would do anything to fight against me. A stubborn child that doesn't like the authority figure. Luckily, I've thought of another plan."

"What?" Bulgaria asked, though a little apprehensively.

"I knew that Moldova would like a friend of sorts," Romania said. "Someone who could act as a protective figure, especially when he sees me as a monster. And since we're neighbours, I thought of you. I not only got close to you, but got you close to Moldova. Someone who he trusts and who can keep him in line."

"So, you just want me to take care of Moldova?" Bulgaria asked, half surprised and half relieved.

"And keep him in line," Romania said. "If he gives me trouble, _you're_ the one I'm taking it out on. Understand?"

"D-da."

"Good. Then let's get out of here. There are a few things we need to discuss first."

…

America waited patiently at the airport for Michoacán. She had told him about the difficulties in getting a flight and he felt guilty because of the added paranoia.

She couldn't take a direct flight from Mexico to England, due to the fact that all flights from nations recognised as members of Amodi were blocked in nations that were trying to stop them (basically everyone at England's place). Apparently she managed to organise a helicopter, but it couldn't take her over the border, so she had to hop the border to Arizona. Next, she had to make her way to Phoenix, and then she had a hard time convincing the airport to allow her to fly to England. America had to be called and gave his permission, then he had to convince England's airport to allow her to come over, and if she was anything like Mexico, America would have a very angry woman on his hands.

He looked through the crowd, and finally saw a girl in her late teens making a beeline for him, her face wearing a mask of anger and looking remarkably similar to Mexico that he knew immediately who she was.

"Michoacán?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Si," she said. "And while I appreciate the caution, was the paranoia really necessary?"

He chuckled nervously.

"Well, you can never be too sure," he said. "Come on. I'll carry your bag for you."

She smiled and trailed after him, and he was pleased to note that she didn't seem _too_ angry. Perhaps now, he could get some answers.

"Hey," America said. "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to Texas, would you?"

Michoacán sighed.

"She was killed by Mexico and Confederacy," she said. "And because of that, Texas is becoming Mexican territory again instead of American."

"I had a feeling," America said. "Though it doesn't hurt to be sure."

"Of course," she said. "Better to check, double check and triple check."

"Sure. So, what made you decide you wanted to help us?"

"Because a family that's evil is no family of mine," she said. "I might have done some shady stuff, but I would _never_ stoop as low as Mexico did."

America was silent for a moment as he pondered what she said.

"What kind of shady stuff?" he asked.

"Unimportant!"

…

"Dammit!" Turkey shouted. "Romania got him."

"How can you be sure?" England asked.

"Because he said 'Romania' right before we got disconnected."

"So we were right," China said. "They're definitely going after the ones they've been close to."

"Can anyone think of others?" France asked.

"Let's start with Italy," England said. "He was close to Germany and Japan. He has Germany, and Japan's with us."

"What about Austria? He _did_ raise Italy. And Hungary too."

"Is that why you called them?"

"That, and they were close to Prussia. I had a feeling it would be a good idea to keep them close."

"Alright. Poland?"

"Hungary again," Russia said. "Along with the Baltics, especially Lithuania. But he's already killed the Baltics. Then there's also Cheshskaya and Slovakiya."

"Czech and Slovakia," England repeated. "Do you think you can call them?"

"Da. And if they don't want to, I'll ask Hungary to call them instead."

"I think they'd be more willing to listen to her," France said. "Finland?"

"The Nordics," England said. "But he's already dealt with them. Switzerland?"

"Liechtenstein, but she's part of their group." France said. "And perhaps Austria. He played the part of neutrality well."

"India was close to me, Russia, Brazil and South Africa," China said. "It was with the BRICS countries, remember? He also bonded with Thailand at some point."

"Not to mention me," England said. "Canada?"

"You, moi and Amérique," France said. "As well as Netherlands and Ukraine. That's one of the reasons why I called Netherlands here. Romania?"

"Norway and I, as well as Bulgaria and Moldova. Romano?"

"Pretty much only Spain. Maybe America on occasion. Mexico?"

"I don't think we should check with the new additions," China said. "They wouldn't have really bothered."

"But still, who would she be close with?" England asked.

"The rest of Latin America," France said. "Egypt?"

"Me, Greece and Cyprus," Turkey said. "The Koreas?"

"The rest of Eastern Asia," China said. "Well, South at least. North kept himself isolated. Belarus?"

"Ukraine and I," Russia said. "And the South Americans were close to most of their continent, and the Africans mostly kept to themselves."

"So now we've managed to figure out that they would _probably_ go for Czech and Slovakia," England said. "But there's no guarantee."

"We were right about them going after Bulgaria," Turkey said. "Can't hurt to be sure."

"Call them," China said, looking at Russia. "We can't afford for them to get anymore nations on their side."

"When can we take back nations they've already captured?" Russia asked.

"When we find out where their base of operations is," England said.

"But what about the Africans? They're not being kept hostage."

The group was silent for a moment as they pondered the information.

"We'll discuss it with the others later," England said. "I think we've covered all the bases, don't you?"

…

Wales lay in his room, his skin in pain, but not his muscles. He learned from the micronations that it was due to the increased strength, and as long as he looked and acted as though he was in extreme pain, the other nations would fall for the farce.

He had felt the pain of impact, and wondered why South Korea had been so harsh. Then he realised that it didn't hurt as much as it should have, and he decided to go with it.

It was enough to fool the other nations, after all.

He had gone with the excuse that he needed air and went for a walk when he was ambushed. They had knocked him unconscious before going in.

And they believed it.

Wales could understand how the rest of Amodi could do it for years, _centuries_ even. Fooling other people… it was _fun_.

He composed himself when there was a knock on the door, and he groaned, signalling that the other person could come inside.

But he had to keep in another groan when he saw that it was England.

"How are you feeling?" England asked.

"Better," Wales said.

"Listen, we're having a meeting later. Do you think you can make it?"

So, that was the only reason why England decided to check on him. Wales had to hide his anger at his brother.

"Sure," Wales said. "I can make it."

England nodded, before closing the door. Wales glared at it, before smirking.

He wondered what plan they'd come up with _this_ time.

…

Moldova and Côte d'Ivoire looked up when the door opened again. Romania was standing there, his face unreadable.

"Come on," Romania said, gesturing to Côte d'Ivoire, before he looked at Moldova. "If you promise to be good, you can come out. I've brought a friend for you."

Moldova swallowed nervously, wondering what he meant by that. He nodded his head, following Côte d'Ivoire out of the room.

They followed Romania to the living room, and Moldova gasped in shock when he saw who was there.

"Bulgaria!"

Bulgaria looked over towards him and smiled, before looking nervously at Romania.

"Bulgaria's going to keep you company," Romania said. "And if you disobey any of my rules, Bulgaria's the one that's going to get hurt. Understand?"

Moldova looked over towards his brother with wide eyes.

"What are the rules?" he asked.

Romania smirked.

"First, no leaving the house," Romania said. "Second, no contacting anyone outside this house. Third, don't answer the phone. Four, no internet. Fifth, no going down in the basement. Understand?"

Moldova nodded his head, and Romania ruffled his hair.

"Good," Romania said. "Now we're going to take _him_ home." He gestured towards Côte d'Ivoire. "Stay by the rules. There's also enough food for you to stay satisfied."

He grabbed a hold of Côte d'Ivoire, and the two of them left. Finland followed after them, on his way back to his own country.

Finally, Bulgaria and Moldova were alone. Moldova swallowed nervously, before turning back to Bulgaria.

"You're not with _them_ , are you?" Moldova asked.

Bulgaria shook his head, and Moldova sighed in relief.

"How would he know if we broke the rules?" Bulgaria asked.

"Fairies," Moldova said. "Fairies and other magic creatures. I can't see them, but I know they're here. Watching."

Bulgaria nodded his head, before he smiled.

"Well, he didn't say anything about TV, did he?"

…

Russia sighed in relief. Luckily, Czech and Slovakia agreed to come immediately. They were aware of what was happening across the globe, and didn't want to risk becoming targets.

He had told them to go to a safe place, and after they had their meeting, he would tell them where to meet him.

A small part of him was glad that nations that were scared of him would rather fall under his sphere of influence again than Italy and Poland's. At least he wasn't considered the biggest monster of the world.

Anymore.


	28. Chapter 27

**Thanks to 17Green Rose18, Neko, fishstick1999, Cardfighter By Maple, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, KathAmbrosius67, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and V for reviewing.**

 **And why is it that the reviews I know I** _ **have**_ **to respond to are always guest reviews *sigh*. I have different plans for Indonesia, and Philippines has already been added.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 27**

America returned with Michoacán trailing behind him. He hoped the other nations wouldn't have a problem with her, especially since she was a state of one of their enemies.

She had also told him about starting a separatist movement, and that her people were already fighting for independence from Mexico. He offered to help her with her independence, and she was grateful for the offer. He expressed his concern over it, though, since Mexico could easily try to suppress her attempts, but she told him that Mexico would try to avoid attacking her people, since she didn't have independence _yet_ and the people were still also Mexico's.

He'd admit that he didn't really pay attention to the mechanics of it all, but agreed that Mexico wouldn't simply attack her people. If he thought about every time his own people were attacked in a large scale, then he couldn't imagine thinking that a nation would _willingly_ do that to themselves. So Michoacán's people were still safe.

But he was still worried about her. Once she gained independence, Mexico wouldn't hesitate, since they wouldn't be her people anymore. And Michoacán wouldn't really be able to stand a chance.

The first nation to greet them was England, and America wanted to roll his eyes at how typical it was. He saw England staring at Michoacán and actually did roll his eyes.

"Artie, this is one of Mexico's states," America said.

"Michoacán," she said.

"Anyway, she decided that she's going to fight against Mexico and needs a place to stay."

England didn't say anything at first.

"What exactly is that thing on your shoulder?" England asked.

America turned around to see Michoacán looking at a spot just above her shoulder.

"This is Cortez," she said. "He's my friend. And anyone that gets too close _will_ become Swiss cheese."

"Um, what are you talking about?" America asked.

"Why is it you believe that Egypt was able to perform magic, but you can't see that creature?" England asked.

"Chupacabra," Michoacán corrected.

"I'd rather not think that there are other creatures running around," America said. "Especially ghosts."

"You do know that there are creatures worse than ghosts, right?"

"Don't want to hear it!"

"It's nice to meet you, Mich…" England said, before he cut himself off. "Forgive me. Could you repeat your name again?"

"Michoacán," she said, sighing in frustration.

"Right, sorry about that. Now, we've all been waiting for the two of you to arrive. We're having a meeting right now."

"Aw," America whined.

Both England and Michoacán rolled their eyes, and the Mexican state followed the Englishman to the conference room.

"So, you can really see Cortez?" Michoacán asked England.

"Yes," England said. "Not a lot of people can, though."

"Tell me about it. People don't believe like they used to."

…

The girl sat on the porch, patiently waiting. She had been waiting for a while now, and though it was cold, that didn't bother her.

She had lost the person most important to her, and now she sought help from someone that most others feared, but who she herself adored.

Russia.

He had helped her in the past, and she hoped that he would help her again. But she hadn't counted on him not being there.

She would wait for a few days longer, and then if he didn't return, she would go to his boss. Either way, she wanted Russia.

…

Serbia sighed, going through his contacts. He knew that the others would probably not be too happy with him, but he had no choice in the matter.

Russia had called him to give him a little update on what was happening. He had stated that he would be neutral, along with the rest of the Balkan countries, but then Russia told him that Bulgaria had been captured by Amodi.

No more had been revealed about Bulgaria's fate, other than it was Romania that had attacked him. It was unclear whether Bulgaria had just been captured or worse.

But if one of them had been targeted, then that meant that the rest of the Balkan nations could be targeted as well. And no matter how much they fought, they were still a family.

Russia had advised him to get all the Balkan nations together and to a safe place. There was strength in numbers, and so far Amodi had either captured/killed those that were on their own, or by surprise. Being in a larger group with everyone on high alert would probably keep them from falling in Amodi's clutches.

Serbia had hoped, but now that hope was gone. If only they could have stayed neutral. But if they had really been planning things for as long as they have, then neutrality was not an option.

He glanced towards the TV, and saw that apparently the Bulgarian government surrendered to the Romanian government. Serbia couldn't help but think that the nations from Amodi were smart. They were moving a lot faster than the Axis Powers did, and there wasn't as much collateral damage. And more importantly, the personifications of the nations they were attacking were easily under their influence.

He sighed, before he pressed 'dial' on his phone. He needed to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Hello Slovenia," he said. "Have you heard the news about Bulgaria?"

…

Wales kept his attention on England as he explained everything they had discussed that morning (after America had complained that they didn't include him). He was making note of everything that he would have to report later.

Every now and again he would glance towards Michoacán, whose eyes would scan everyone in turn. He knew she was searching for something, and he wanted to know what it was.

But he knew that he couldn't confront her. He didn't know her that well, and he wasn't sure how perceptive she would be. He couldn't afford to arouse suspicion. He needed to keep a close eye on her, without her realising what he was doing.

"Alright then," England said, and Wales listened carefully. "So, we decided that we would separate in groups. I suppose that a few of you could go with America. Then we'll also have Russia, Turkey, China, France and I with the other groups."

"Why should we?" Scotland asked.

"Because having all of us here is making us easier targets," Russia said. "This large group isn't working."

"He's right," China said. "They know we're here, and they know who is here. If they want someone, they're going to pull another stunt like yesterday. By separating into groups, we can protect more people by making it harder to know where they are and with who they are."

Everyone was silent as they processed the information.

"I've also called Serbia to gather the Balkans," Russia said. "They've captured Bulgaria this morning, and we can't let them capture anyone else."

"How do you know about Bulgaria?" Hungary asked.

"I was on the phone with him when Romania arrived," Turkey explained.

"Are you sure?"

"He said 'Romania', and I heard something like the phone being dropped before it died. So I'd say it's safe to assume…"

"Bastard," Hungary muttered, her fists clenched.

"Remember, he isn't the Romania we knew," Ukraine said. "The one we knew never existed. There's no telling what he would do."

"I've thought that he was a bastard before, and now even more so."

"But I don't think a frying pan will help now," Austria said, eyeing Hungary's hand, which was twitching slightly.

"It'll make me feel better," Hungary said, pouting.

"Can we get back on track now?" Ireland asked.

"Let's," England said. "For the sake of security, we're not going to discuss where we would be going. Just in case they _have_ left a spy among us."

Wales could feel a pang in his chest. They _were_ suspicious, but they had no way of knowing for sure. And he had no way of knowing whether or not they suspected _him_.

"How are the groups divided?" Wales asked.

"Well obviously, you four would come with me," England said, "as well as Australia, New Zealand and the micronations."

"Monaco, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria will be coming with me," France said.

"Hungary, Greece and Cyprus will be coming with me," Turkey said.

"The Asians would all be coming with me," China said.

"And for now we're only Ukraine and I," Russia said. "But Czech and Slovakia will be joining us soon."

"Then I guess you'll be coming with me, right dudette?" America asked, throwing his arm around Michoacán's shoulders.

Wales watched as the creature that perched on the state's shoulder hissed and scrambled atop her head. She removed a pistol and pointed it at America.

"Let go of me right now," she said, her voice cold.

America chuckled, before releasing her.

"You kind of remind me of Texas," America said, before looking sombre.

"Is that all you wanted to discuss?" Wales asked, looking at England.

"Not quite," England said. "I think we should try to reclaim the nations they've under their control. I think the Africans would be the easiest at the moment, since we know where they are."

"So, we're going to get one of them?" America asked. "Okay, who?"

"I was thinking you could go," England said. "You only have Mich… I'm sorry, how do you pronounce your name again?"

Michoacán sighed in frustration, rubbing her temples.

"Would it be easier if I just told you to call me by my human name?" she asked.

"Perhaps," England said, looking a little embarrassed.

"It's Milessia," she said.

"Alright, Melissa…"

She groaned in frustration, and England looked worried.

"Was that not right?" he asked.

"Milessia, not Melissa…" she said.

"Why don't we just call you Mel?" America asked.

Wales smiled when he saw her eye twitch, but she sighed.

"Fine," she said. "Whatever. Do what you want. I give up."

"Sorry," England said, before turning to America. "Since it's only you and… Mel, you could easily sneak into one of the Africans' countries and get them back."

"Sure," America said. "Anyone in mind?"

"Someone we're absolutely sure about," England said. "Black said that he hasn't heard from White before he disappeared, so we know South Africa is out. And there's still no word from Ivory Coast."

"One of our former colonies?" France suggested.

"Perhaps that is best."

"What about Madagascar? Since she's an island nation, we wouldn't really have to worry about neighbours, and sneaking on an island would be easier than sneaking through borders."

"Good idea. What do you think, America?"

"No prob," America said. "Hey, maybe I could see some singing lemurs."

About everyone facepalmed at that.

…

Canada smirked, his eyes on the TV screen. He would start with Operation Parasite, and he decided that he could help Molossia out, since the micronation needed more territory before he could become a true nation.

He was watching an American film. The setting: Las Vegas.

…

Las Vegas went by as normal. It was loud, the casinos and people alive.

There were a few people that didn't join in the merrymaking. These people were all of Canadian descent. And each of them had at least one firearm on their person.

As though in a trance, they all positioned themselves in several casinos, nightclubs and hotels. And as one, they started to open fire on the people in Las Vegas.

…

America was packing his bags after the meeting when he felt it. It was a stabbing pain in his abdomen which made him hunch over in agony. He used his connection with his country to determine what was wrong.

Las Vegas.

He whimpered in pain, waiting for the storm to pass and trying to get as many details as possible about what was going on.

…

Wales asked Sealand to keep watch outside as he made his report to San Marino. This would be his first time reporting to them, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.

North Korea had told him to find a clever way to keep their contacts, and to be sure to remember them. Wales had added all of their contact details in Welsh, making sure that few people would be able to read it. And to make sure that no one else could read it, he had written them backwards.

"Wales?" San Marino's voice asked.

"Yeah," Wales said. "I've got some information."

"Alright, let me hear it."

"One of Mexico's states, Michoacán, has come to the base. She's hanging around America."

"That would be the one that started a separatist movement. I'll inform Mexico of her location."

"They've also thought it's a good idea to split up. I'll be going with the rest of the UK, and so would the micronations. Australia and New Zealand will be coming as well."

"Alright, and the other groups?"

"Michoacán will stay with America. Greece, Cyprus and Hungary will be going with Turkey. Austria, Monaco, Netherlands and his siblings will be going with France. Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan will be going with China. Russia and Ukraine will also be joined by Czech and Slovakia. And the Balkans, while not here, have been notified to stick together as well."

"Romania reported that he had captured Bulgaria. Well, he hadn't received instructions to do so, but Bulgaria had been deemed his territory a long time ago."

"There's something else. They're going to try to reclaim Madagascar."

"That should be interesting."

"Aren't you worried?"

"No. When nations under our control are no longer under our control, they will die, and their land would still belong to us."

"Is that true with me as well?"

"No, you were recruited. That rule only applies to nations that have been conquered."

"I see."

"Is there anything else?"

"Not really. Except… how are we going to spy on everyone when all of our spies are in one group?"

"That's not an issue. Once they're separated, they'd be easy pickings. And you can do with your brothers whatever you want."

Wales smirked.

"It would be fun to play with them. And what about Australia and New Zealand?"

"Do whatever. We don't need to capture in order to claim. Killing works too, and it's a lot less risky."

There was a knock on his door, and Wales knew that Sealand was signalling him that someone was coming.

"I've got to go," Wales said. "There's someone here."

"Good luck, and have fun," San Marino said.

Wales hung up and pocketed the phone. He went to open the door to find Hungary about to knock. Sealand was nowhere in sight.

"Can I help you?" Wales asked, smiling gently.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Hungary said. "The pain better?"

"Painkillers certainly help," Wales said, before faking a wince.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Hungary asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks for your concern."

She smiled, before leaving. Wales sighed in relief.

He couldn't afford to arouse suspicion. Especially not if his chance at revenge against his brothers was so close at hand.

…

Poland was reading a book with Italy's head resting on his lap, reading his own book. The two of them were brushing up on the first two World Wars, specifically what tactics the different armies had used, which mistakes were made, and so forth.

"I just reached the part about the Warsaw Uprising," Italy teased, looking up at Poland.

The blond rolled his eyes, before looking down at his lover.

"At least _my_ people were brave," Poland said. "The white flag wasn't my trademark."

Italy sat up, a devious smirk on his face.

"Are you suggesting my people are cowards?" Italy asked.

"I'm saying that perhaps their nation is weak and submissive," Poland said, a teasing smirk on his own face.

"Would you like to put that to the test?"

"Again?! Really?!"

Both Italy and Poland scowled, before Italy turned to face San Marino.

"Would it _kill_ you to knock?" Italy asked.

"Would it kill you to stop doing these kinds of things in the living room?" San Marino snapped back. "I have a pretty long report from Wales."

"Ooh, let's hear it."

"Mexico's runaway state is with them."

"She'll be pleased to know where she went."

"Then they're also going to split up into groups, and Czech and Slovakia will be joining Russia."

"Liechtenstein would want to hear about that," Poland said.

"Looks like they're doing exactly what we want them to do," Italy said. "Do you know the groups?"

"Si. The UK, along with Australia and New Zealand, will be going with the micronations somewhere," San Marino continued.

"The four of them will be very happy," Italy said. "What about Austria?"

"He'll be going with France, Monaco and the Benelux siblings."

"So many opportunities…" Italy said. "I'm not too worried about the others."

"They'd also notified the Balkans to go into hiding."

"We'll pass on the message to Romania," Italy said. "Anything else?"

"Si. They're going to try to recapture one of our territories. Madagascar, to be specific."

"This would be a good opportunity to shatter their hopes," Poland said. "And would be a good opportunity to remind our other nations to keep in line."

"So we'll do nothing," Italy said.

"Got it," San Marino said, before turning to leave.

"Wait," Italy said, and San Marino paused. "Tell Wales to wait a while before he attacks his brothers. Let us deal with France and his group first, and when the communications are cut, _then_ he can strike."

"Si," San Marino said, leaving the two lovers alone.

"He really needs to stop interrupting us," Italy said.

"We'll see if we can set him up with anyone," Poland sighed. "Now, where were we?"

…

Mexico growled, hanging up her phone. Confederacy saw this and raised an eyebrow.

"Problem?" the American asked.

"Si," Mexico said. "Michoacán is with your northern counterpart."

Confederacy scowled.

"We're going to have to deal with them both, then," Confederacy said. "Any ideas?"

"For now, the only thing we can do is gain more territory," Mexico said. "Make the gringo run out of land. And once we have him cornered, we'll snuff his lights out."

"He's not even _in_ his country at the moment," Confederacy said, not liking the words 'his country' at all.

"But he'll have to return eventually. We'll just have to make sure he doesn't have a lot of places to go to. Fewer places to hide…"

 **Running gag: San Marino walking in on Poland and Italy whenever they start getting cosy with each other. I** _ **love**_ **doing those scenes.**

 **And England having trouble with Michoacán's name is simply a linguistic thing. It takes practice to memorise a word from a foreign language, especially one with more syllables. It helps to make connotations. For example, I can always remember the French word for fish, poisson, because if you remove one 's', it's 'poison' (I don't like fish).**

 **And I know, it sounded contradictory, Russia telling Serbia to gather in a group while they are splitting off. The reason is because they aren't sure whether or not more of the Balkans would be attacked, at least not so soon. And most of the nations that have been confirmed to be targets by Amodi one way or another are in a large group. By splitting off without knowing who is where, they're hoping to confuse Amodi. But as you can see, thanks to Wales, it's a wasted effort.**


	29. Chapter 28

**Thanks to Terra, Time Turner, Eternal Nexus Warrior, 17Green Rose18, KathAmbrosius67, mewtwo27mew, pastaaddict, Cardfighter By Maple, ScandinavianTrash, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, topaz3 and Skye Phoenix Dove for reviewing.**

 **Just a little reminder that Philippines's introduction was in Chapter 25, so please,** _ **please**_ **stop asking for Philippines after I've already added her** _ **and**_ **reminded you that I added her. She's in the first scene of this chapter too, so** _ **please**_ **stop.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 28**

Philippines kept mostly to herself, ever since discovering that Mexico and Confederacy were an item. She figured that it would be better to stay out of the lovers' way. She knew Mexico's anger, and she had read enough history books to have an idea on what Confederacy was like.

But she refused to stay idle. She had started gathering maps, pamphlets, everything she could that covered North America and started doing research.

She could figure out which areas Canada would be more at home with attacking, and which ones suited Mexico better. She had also assumed that Confederacy would be able to handle her own former territories.

She would help with the rest of America.

She had made it pretty clear to Mexico that she had no interest in America's country. She just wanted to help them in destroying him.

She knew that she wasn't popular in her region, and she also hated how America treated her. Whenever he saw her, he would treat her like a _maid_. Then there was Spain, and how he treated her, but Spain was dead, and she only wished she could have been there to see. But then there was also Japan to think about, but she would wait a bit with him.

And she didn't have any orders yet, so she would need to busy herself in any way she could.

…

Laos groaned. His body felt heavy for some reason, and his mouth tasted of cotton.

As he became more aware, he noticed that there was a cloth in his mouth, and he couldn't move his arms or legs. He opened his eyes, and they widened when he saw who was crouched down in front of him.

"Namaste, Laos," India said. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm in a hurry. We still need to get to East Timor. You can be glad that I have to bring you back alive, otherwise I would have played with you a little. Drugging you and restraining you like this was a lot easier."

Laos trembled. How did India even…?

It took him a moment to realise that they were on a plane, most likely on their way to East Timor. India must have taken him during the dead of night, when no one would have noticed. No one could have stopped him.

He let out muffled sounds as India stood, walking to a seat.

"And forgive me for placing you on the floor," India said. "You were tossing and turning so much that I didn't dare put you on a chair. Bad dreams?"

Laos knew that India was teasing him. He knew about his prophetic dreams. And now, because of the drug, Laos didn't know what his dreams told him.

He suspected that that was what Amodi wanted with him. He regretted telling India about it so long ago. He had been kept up for an entire week by them, and India had been the only one that expressed concern about it.

But even his dreams hadn't told him what fate awaited the rest of the world.

But now he was a little perplexed. What could they possibly want with East Timor?

India's phone rang, and he moved to answer it. Laos paid close attention, hoping that he could get some answers.

"I see," India said. "Understood."

India hung up the phone, and Laos frowned. Was that it?

India seemed to sense his confusion and disappointment, for he turned to face him.

"It would seem we have another stop," India said. "Indonesia. You're going to have a lot of company."

Laos tried to demand answers, but they were muffled by the gag. India looked thoughtful for a moment, before shrugging and walking towards him. He undid the gag, and Laos first took a deep, cleansing breath.

"What do you want with us?" Laos demanded.

"Well," India said, "East Timor is going to help us keep Portugal in line. And as it turns out, Netherlands has feelings for Portugal, so we're most likely going to use Indonesia to get to him. You know that East Timor and Indonesia are siblings, right?"

"And what about _me_?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure. Could be those dreams of yours. Though you didn't see us coming, did you? I'll have to commend Egypt for that one."

"You made it so that I wouldn't be _able_ to see you," Laos said, realisation dawning on him.

"Correct. You might also keep Tibet cooperative. And then we can also use you to get to France. And Thailand and Vietnam as well, now that I think about it. Wow. You're actually pretty useful to us."

"Why?" Laos asked. "Why are you doing all of this?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've had enough of being the conquered. I want to be the conqueror for a change."

"This won't end well for you. Please, stop this madness before it's too late."

India reapplied the gag, and Laos screamed in frustration.

"It's already too late," India said. "There is no way for me to turn back. I simply care too much about my life, and the life of my loved one."

Laos's eyes widened, and India returned to his seat.

…

Prussia looked worriedly towards his brother. Germany kept taking deep breaths, as though in pain. Prussia knew that it _was_ pain.

Germany was being partitioned, his body being divided among several other nations. And after partitioning would come dissolution.

And what made the brothers sick to their stomachs was that they had done the exact same thing to Poland on two separate occasions.

No, not the _exact_ same thing. Poland was being merciful.

Germany's people accepted this, because their nation accepted this. There were a few protests here and there, but they went ignored. But when they did it to Poland, they had to fight and kill many of the other's people in order to get what they wanted.

It was no wonder Poland had snapped.

No, Poland had snapped a long time ago. Prussia had realised this quite early on in their imprisonment. How long had Poland allowed himself to be conquered? How long had he allowed others to abuse him? Had they known that it was all willing, would they have continued to torture him in an effort to 'break' him?

Allowing something to happen while making it look as though there was resistance… _Allowing_ your people to die in order to make a lie convincing…

What more had they done? And what more were they willing to do?

…

America knocked on a door, and a moment later France opened it. The older nation's eyes widened when he saw the torn expression on America's face.

"Amérique, what happened?" France asked, ushering the younger inside.

"Is it possible for them to control their people?" America asked. "Even if they were born and raised in another country?"

France's eyes widened.

"What happened?" he repeated.

"Las Vegas was attacked," America said. "The culprits were Canadians, and the only survivors had roots in one of _their_ countries."

"I see," France said. "Oui. It's called Parasite. A nation can control their people, but it's a long process. The strategy involves having people from your country go to your enemy's, and allow them to become citizens. It works for up to five generations. You can then order them all through the link between nation and people to attack the enemy."

"That's messed up," America said. "Can you stop them?"

"Non," France said. "The idea is to use those that have been integrated into your country. You can't stop them unless you're willing to turn on your own people."

"Can I do the same to Canada?"

"Oui, but it's a long process to prepare for it. It takes a lot of time, which we don't have."

"Well, in theory, how would it work?"

"You'll need to have the intention of using them as sleeper agents _before_ they depart for their new country. If they leave before you have the intention and after they gain citizenship in their new country, then there is no way for you to use them."

"Damn," America said. "They've really put a lot of thought in this."

"Oui. Which is why simply attacking them won't work. You need to think carefully and make informed decisions."

"Is taking one of their territories away from them a good decision?"

"Oui. It's strategy. Even if we can't save the entire country, if the personification at least is out of their reach, we'll be fine."

"Sweet," America said. "Don't worry. The hero will save them."

"I hope so, mon ami."

…

Norway and Iceland jumped when the front door opened. Finland had been gone for quite a while, and Ladonia still had some of his micronation abilities, which included being able to come and go as he pleased.

They tensed when Finland appeared at the door to the living room, smiling brightly at them.

"Did you miss me?" he asked cheerfully.

The two brothers remained silent, and Finland pouted.

"Aw, that's mean," he said. "Perhaps I should call Romania and cancel our plans."

"What plans?" Norway asked.

Finland smiled again.

"Well, Romania has two prisoners, and I have you two," Finland said. "We thought it would be easier to bring the other two here. Then you can all keep each other out of trouble."

Iceland and Norway exchanged a look. Having someone around that wasn't an enemy would be good, in their opinion. At the very least, it would be sane company.

Finland noticed the silent conversation and smiled.

"Then it's settled," Finland said. "I'll get in contact with Romania and tell him that everything is still a go."

…

Czech kept her phone on hand, waiting anxiously for Russia to call. She couldn't believe that they were _willingly_ going back to Russia, but he was definitely the lesser of two evils.

Even among those that weren't officially involved, news spread quickly about what Amodi was up to. Russia had forced them to live in his house and do chores, and he would occasionally get angry and/or drunk and violent/cruel, but that was the extent of it. Amodi _killed_ nations they conquered, or at least some of them. And others disappeared.

Slovakia sat on the couch, eyes focused on the TV. Under normal circumstances Czech would scold him for being lazy, but he was watching the news, hoping to learn more about what was happening in the world. As it turned out, Bulgaria was Amodi's latest acquisition, and there hasn't been confirmation about Laos yet.

Czech felt that she would have been more useful if she could predict Amodi's moves. But so far, a lot of what happened appeared to be random.

America being attacked from both the north and south was to be expected, but why in Nevada? There was nothing in Nevada that could prompt an attack.

Or was there?

…

Egypt wandered around in Riyadh, examining all the people. Saudi Arabia rarely spent time indoors, finding them too stifling, and often went on strolls to clear his head. Egypt also knew that the other just wanted to make himself harder to attack.

Egypt smirked when he saw the nation he was looking for, pausing to watch a group of children playing nearby, a small smile on his face. Egypt approached quietly, using all the tricks he's learned from Canada.

He walked behind him, and the other didn't notice until he was right behind him. He started to spin around, but Egypt took the hand on the opposite side the other was turning to wrap around the other's mouth, pulling him closer.

Saudi Arabia let out a muffled scream, clawing at Egypt's arm.

"If you make a scene," Egypt hissed into the other's ear, "I will kill those very children you've been watching. Now, come with me, quietly. Understood?"

Saudi Arabia took a deep breath before he nodded. Egypt released his mouth, and the other turned to face him.

"Why are you doing this?" Saudi Arabia asked.

"Ever heard of 'war' before?" Egypt taunted.

"This isn't war. War is supposed to be fought on a battlefield. With guns and bombs…"

"Oh, but we _do_ use them. The entire _world_ is our battlefield, including the personifications' homes. And as for weapons… Well, there's a bomb in your king's home. One that I won't hesitate to detonate if you give me trouble."

"You… You're bluffing!"

"Are you willing to test that?"

Saudi Arabia looked around wildly. Egypt removed his phone.

"If you give me any problems…" Egypt warned. "But perhaps I should show you how serious I am."

Egypt pressed a button on his phone, and Saudi Arabia jumped when a bomb went off, around ten blocks away from them. The people panicked and started to flee, and Saudi Arabia attempted as well, but Egypt grabbed him by the arm, his grip tight.

"Do you want another one to go off?" Egypt asked. "I told you to come with me, didn't I?"

"Where are you taking me?" Saudi Arabia asked, eyes wide and body trembling.

"Well, somewhere quiet where I can kill you, but with the panic going on, I can do it here."

Egypt used his magic to turn his hand into a talon, and he pierced his hand inside Saudi Arabia's chest. The other nation let out a choked cry as Egypt's hand wrapped around his heart, before ripping it out.

"Now the final touch," Egypt said, before taking a bite of the heart.

Saudi Arabia's body jerked and he fell to the ground. Egypt swallowed the chunk of muscle, before he shuddered in disgust.

"I don't know how the South Americans could _like_ it," he said, dropping the heart to the ground.

He crushed the remainder of the heart with his foot, before walking away, not sparing the corpse of his fellow nation a backwards glance.

…

Bulgaria sighed, watching the cartoons. Though he himself wasn't particularly fond of it, it kept Moldova occupied.

He had contemplated escape, but then he realised that Romania would have a contingency plan. He and Moldova were simply left in the house, without being locked up or tied up or _anything_. And it wasn't because Romania _trusted_ them not to escape. He wouldn't make a stupid move like that.

No, Romania had something in place that would impede their escape. Perhaps he had soldiers outside his house, keeping guard in case they tried to flee, or perhaps there was a tracker on Moldova.

Either way, Bulgaria had the feeling that the safest thing for the two of them would be to stay put.

Bulgaria jumped when the front door opened, and Moldova moved closer to him. He wrapped a comforting arm around the younger nation.

Romania then appeared, smirking when he saw them.

"Isn't that simply adorable?" he taunted. "So, Finland and I have been talking. He has prisoners too, and we thought it would be easier to keep an eye on all of you together, and perhaps lower the chances of cabin fever. So we're going to Finland's place in an hour, and if you give any trouble…"

"We won't," Moldova said.

Romania's smirk widened.

"Good," he said as he turned to leave. "Remember, an hour."

…

Belarus and North Korea were in the room they had claimed for the two of them. North was sleeping, while Belarus was watching over him.

She gently ran her fingers over North's broken ones. She knew that he did it to himself, but why did he have to take it so far?

Belarus looked over to the door when there was a knock on it.

"Can I come in?" Poland asked from the other side.

She scowled. He was one of their leaders, and she had a lot of respect for him, but she was angry at him and Italy for allowing North to place himself in danger. And for forcing him to do that to himself.

After a few moments of silence Poland opened the door. His eyes immediately fell on the sleeping Korean.

"We only told him to stall until you could come and rescue him," Poland said. "And maybe hurt himself a little to give you a better chance. Neither of us could have imagined that he would go to such lengths."

Her eyes narrowed, before she turned back to North, starting to stroke his hair out of his face.

"If it helps," Poland said, "for a while, we just need him to manage the technology. No putting himself in danger."

"Leave," Belarus said. "I don't want you near him until he's healed."

"Fine," Poland said. "I also have a favour to ask you. Do you think it's possible to make Russia's nuclear weapons useless?"

"I already altered the programming of the guidance system. At this point, he can only use them if he plans to drop them, once the engineers figure out what's wrong with the aircraft."

Poland looked at her in surprise before he smirked.

"That was excellent initiative," Poland said. "Then Canada can do America's, and Wales can handle England's. France won't be a problem for long, and China won't dare to attack with Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau with us."

Belarus nodded her head, before she lay down next to North. She was discreetly telling him to leave.

Poland shrugged, before doing as she subtly suggested.

…

When Italy entered the kitchen, he was surprised to see Romano, kneading some dough.

"Hey," Romano greeted, not even turning around to face his brother. "Is it alright if we have pizza for lunch?"

"It's fine," Italy said. "At least you're saving me from making lunch myself."

Romano nodded his head.

"I was actually hoping to discuss something with you," Italy said. "As soon as India comes back, I'd like you to go to your Sicilian house. Take Portugal and his former territories with you."

"You can't keep them all locked in the same room the whole time, and Portugal is less likely to cooperate if he thinks you're bluffing about hurting someone that isn't in the vicinity," Romano guessed.

"Si. You and India can keep them in line. And once the South Americans calmed down, they could join you as well."

"They might help keep the Lusophones in control. They should just remember not to get in my way."

Italy smirked and nodded, before he turned around. He might as well go tell Portugal now.

 **For those who don't know, 'Lusophone' refers to people who speak Portuguese, like how 'Francophone' refers to a French speaker or 'Anglophone' is an English speaker.**

 **And yeah, Amodi started to realise that they've got quite a few prisoners, so they're going to branch out a little. I'd imagine Vatican was feeling that his house was a little too cramped.**


	30. Chapter 29

**Thanks to Time Turner, 17Green Rose18, Eternal Nexus Warrior, magicflyingmintbunnies, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 29**

"Alright then," England said, looking over all the other nations, "is everyone ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," America sighed.

The other nations noticed the American's gloom and grew worried.

"What happened to you?" England asked.

"Las Vegas was attacked," America said.

"And it would seem that they are using Parasite as well," France said.

" _That's_ not good," China said.

"What is it?" Russia asked.

"They use their citizens as sleeper agents and have them emigrate to other countries. And whenever it's implemented they could use them at any time to act as either terrorists or soldiers."

"Bloody hell," England said. "How many of their former citizens are in _our_ countries?"

"A _lot_ ," Australia said. "Damn. They're making this really hard."

"Especially since their people have become _our_ people," China said. "We can't really attack them. I wonder how they've managed it, though. I've been trying for almost two hundred years and have never succeeded."

Everyone gave China weird looks.

"Those China Towns…" England said.

China cleared his throat.

"I thought we were leaving," he said.

"Silly Yao," Russia said, patting the smaller nation on his head and making said smaller nation cringe. "All should become one with _Russia_ , not _China_."

"Hey, I've never managed to succeed. I've been missing something, but I'm not quite sure what it is."

"Any other tactics that we need to know of?" England asked, looking between China and France.

"None that I can think of at the moment," France said. "China?"

"Not in particular," China said. "Nothing outside regular warfare tactics, at least."

"I think we need to see other nations," Michoacán said. "We need to get them to safety."

"The hero will do that," America said.

"Thanks for volunteering," England said, a small smirk on his face.

"Huh?"

"You and Michoacán can get the nations that aren't under Amodi's control or dead yet to a safe location. That while you're trying to rescue the nations already under their control."

"Lot of people you should go get," Russia said, a cheerful smile on his face. "No guarantee that they'd even listen to you. This is a tense time, after all, and everyone is suspicious and paranoid."

"They also might think that you'd want them to fight as well," China said. "And if they don't want to fight or are pretty weak, they won't appreciate that."

"So thank you for volunteering for that," France said, smirking.

America stared mutely at all the other nations. Michoacán sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, before she reached over and smacked America upside the head.

"You and your big mouth," she said.

"Come on now," England said. "We need to get going. The longer we stay here, the more we place ourselves at risk."

…

East Timor trembled in fear, gun pointed at his head. India was smiling at him. Somehow, India had known where to go in order to corner the smaller nation in an alley.

"So then," India said, "are you going to come quietly?"

"P-please," East Timor said. "L-let me go."

"Oh, I can't do that," India said.

"Por favor, I don't want to die."

"Then it's a good thing I haven't received orders to kill you."

"What?"

"I am to bring you to our base of operations, unharmed."

"Then what's with the gun?"

"Oh, this? This is in case you give me trouble and I have to open fire on your people. And when the bullets run out, there are still a few bombs I could set off."

"You… you _wouldn't_."

"Are you sure about that? We let bombs go off in Spain's country while his former colonies were fighting him, just before they killed him. We've dropped our bombs over Germany before we captured him. Why wouldn't I set off the bombs to capture _you_? I'm going to get what I want anyway. It all just depends on you whether or not your people would suffer for your stubbornness. Well?"

Tears were streaming down East Timor's face. He knew that it was a choice between his freedom and the lives of his people. And he knew that it wasn't much of a choice. For a nation, their people were more important to them than their own lives.

"Alright," East Timor said. "I'll go with you. Just, _please_. Don't hurt them."

India smirked, removing the gun.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say," India said. "Now come. Indonesia's next."

"What? _No_!"

"Are you going to give trouble?"

"N-no. Just… Please, don't hurt my brother."

"Wasn't planning to. The two of you are going to help us with Portugal and Netherlands."

"What do you want with them?"

"They're going to make us stronger. Whether they want to or not."

…

Czech jumped when her phone finally rang, and she answered it as swiftly as possible.

"R-Russia," Czech said.

Slovakia turned off the TV and moved closer, wondering what the other wanted them to do.

"Alright," she said. "We're going."

Czech hung up the phone, before she turned to Slovakia.

"Russia wants us to go to his house outside of Moscow," she said. "From there, he'll take us to another location. He doesn't want to say _where_ , though."

Slovakia nodded his head in understanding.

"Why would he point us to Moscow, though?" Slovakia asked. "It's a little obvious."

"Probably the place where we're going is somewhere the two of us haven't been before," she said. "So he pointed us to somewhere that he knows we know."

"Why are we going with Russia again?"

"Because he's the lesser evil. We can't trust that Poland will leave us alone, and remember, Liechtenstein is in their group. We've never had the best relationship with…"

Czech jumped again when the phone rang, and she quickly answered it, not checking caller-ID.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello, Czech," a cold, sweet voice said that had chills running down her spine.

"L-Liechtenstein!"

"That's right. If you think you'll be safe with Russia, well… You'd be wrong. I'll be coming for you. Don't know when yet. It could be when you're going to the airport, while you're on the plane, or when you're making your way outside Moscow. It could be today, it could be next week, it could be next month… You won't know when I'm coming for you. You and Slovakia. But know that I'll be coming for you personally. Auf Wiederholen."

Liechtenstein hung up, and Czech dropped her phone. Her entire body was trembling.

"What's wrong?" Slovakia asked her. "What did she say?"

"She knows," Czech said in a weak voice. "She knows where we're going."

" _How_?"

"I don't know! But she knows where we're going. We were right. She'll be coming for us."

Slovakia wrapped her in a hug, and Czech clung to him. She had never been this scared in her life before. Russia really _was_ the lesser evil.

…

Hutt River smirked, placing his phone in his pocket. He had informed Liechtenstein about Russia's arrangements with Czech and Slovakia, and he was curious to know what she was going to do with the information.

"Come on," Australia urged, and Hutt River followed him.

England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Sealand would be driving in one car, while Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Wy and Hutt River would be going in another car. Scotland was the only person that England had informed of the location of their new base of operations, and they would be meeting each other there.

Hutt River climbed into the back alongside Wy. On her other side was New Zealand. Wy would be sitting in the middle since she was the shortest and therefor the least likely to obstruct the view in the rear-view mirror.

"I hope you all went to the bathroom," Scotland said, sliding in behind the wheel. "Because it's a _long_ ride."

Australia chuckled nervously, before he exited the car and ran to the base. Everyone sighed in slight annoyance.

"Sometimes it's a good thing America and Oz aren't better friends," New Zealand said. "Imagine the two of them together."

"At least it would give Artie a headache," Scotland said, a grin forming on his face.

Wy and Hutt River shared a glance, before they looked over to the other car that was driving away. From the rear window, they could make out Sealand waving to them, before winking. They could almost hear England scold him.

But that was something that Sealand would most definitely do. It was more important than ever for them to maintain their covers.

…

Seborga cleaned the knife with a handkerchief, not caring that his shoes were becoming stained with blood. A teenager with blond hair was in the centre of the pool of blood, face down.

"It's nothing personal, Conch," Seborga said. "You're just a loose end. But with you out of the way, the general resistance in Florida should be weaker. We appreciate your sacrifice."

Seborga had been helping Kugelmugel and Ladonia in dealing with other micronations. At least it made him more useful to the group.

Though he couldn't wait for France and Monaco to be taken care of so that he could gain official nation status. He knew that they had to do everything precisely and at the right time, but he was growing impatient.

And the thing that made him most annoyed was the fact that he could have been a proper nation already if France and Monaco weren't aware of Amodi. They had gone under protection.

His phone rang, and he smirked when he saw who was calling.

"Ciao, fratello," Seborga said.

"Marcello, I hope you're not getting too impatient," Italy said.

"Maybe a little."

"Well, you're going to have to wait just a _little_ longer. Once they discover that they won't be able to save the territories under our control, we'll move in on France."

"Why the wait?"

"Now fratello, have you learned nothing?"

Seborga chuckled.

"You're going to break their spirits first," Seborga said. "Alright. So, when does Operation Island begin?"

"Soon. We're going to need them to be able to communicate to lure France and his group into our trap. Tell Kugel that he'll be a nation soon as well."

"I know he'll be happy to hear that. Ciao."

Seborga hung up and shot the corpse one last look.

"Well, I guess this is the part where I leave. Ciao."

…

Israel smiled reassuringly when he entered White's room, a tray carrying two plates of pizza on it. He walked over towards the bed and placed the tray in the middle.

White had made it clear that she refused to eat any food that Amodi provided unless Israel was the one that brought it to her. Israel felt warmth when he realised that she trusted him completely. It almost made him feel guilty about manipulating her.

But he couldn't help it. He wanted to have what they once had again. And he would do anything to that end.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why do they let you wander free? Why aren't you locked in a room, like me?"

Israel swallowed nervously, trying to think of a good response.

"Because they know I won't do well with imprisonment," Israel said. "Not after what Germany did to me and my people. As long as I cooperate, I won't be forced to endure that. There's also something else."

"What is it?"

"They know that you can be used to threaten me, so I don't give them a reason to hurt you."

There was a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks, and she quickly took a bite of the pizza. Israel smiled, placing a hand on hers. She didn't pull away.

"I will do anything to keep you safe," he said. "And I will do anything to keep you happy."

She swallowed and closed her eyes. It was possible that her cheeks had gotten darker.

"Are you sure that we can't escape?" she asked.

He sighed, shaking his head. Her head dropped.

"Then I guess the only thing we can do is keep each other safe," she said.

To his surprise, she felt him squeeze his hand. He smiled softly. He hated lying to her, but he hated not having her even more.

…

Portugal was on the bed, Macau on the floor next to the bed and Brazil was pacing nervously.

"Come sit down," Portugal sighed. "You getting nervous isn't helping the two of us."

Brazil stopped, but he didn't sit.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Brazil asked.

"How did you get that bruise?" Portugal asked.

"Argentina… she was just messing with me."

"How?"

"Well… To be honest, for a moment, I thought she was going to rape me."

"She lusts for blood," Portugal said. "How did they capture you?"

"They caught me off-guard."

"And that happened before they came to Spain, right?"

"Sim. Where are you going with this?"

"They had gotten stronger since they conquered you. They were already strong when they killed Spain. I saw them. I was forced to watch. Romano had me restrained. I watched as they consumed my brother's heart."

"W-what?" Brazil asked, horrified.

"Sim. How large has their empire become? How many nations' strength could they add to theirs?"

Brazil sank to the floor, a horrified look on his face.

"We're calm because we know we can't fight," Macau explained. "They're not above threatening others to get us to cooperate."

"But… They're just threats," Brazil said. "Right?"

"You didn't see what they did to Germany and Prussia," Macau said.

"And yesterday… we heard a gunshot," Portugal said. "Along with some horrified screaming. Sounded like South Africa."

Brazil perked up.

"She's here?" Brazil asked. "Do you think they'll let me see her?"

"I don't think so," Portugal said. "They seem to want to keep their prisoners separated. Prussia and Germany are in the basement, last I heard. Tibet and Hong Kong are in another room. And I don't know who else is here."

"Do they ever let us out?"

"No. This room has an en-suite bathroom, and I get the feeling that the others do as well. This is actually a big place."

"So, they _never_ let us out?" Brazil asked.

"No," Macau said. "The only time that door opens is when Italy's taunting Portugal or when there's food."

And at the mention of food, the door opened, startling the three. Italy entered, smiling brightly, a tray with three plates of pizza stacked on it.

"That's right," Italy said. "You don't come out. At least not now."

"H-how long have you been listening?" Portugal asked.

"Since around the time you asked him about his bruise," Italy said, turning to Brazil. "Looks like Argentina couldn't control her bloodlust. It came through as another type of lust."

Brazil shuddered. Portugal stood from the bed and scrambled to stand in front of his former colony.

Italy smirked, while Portugal narrowed his eyes. The two Europeans stared at each other for a moment, before Macau interrupted.

"Is that pizza for us?" he asked.

Italy turned towards him and smiled, placing the tray on the bed.

"Just so you know," Italy said, "you won't be here for much longer. You'll be transferred to a new location soon. Don't worry. The three of you will stay together, along with your other former territories."

"What?" Portugal asked. "Who else?"

"Well, India told me that he managed to get East Timor… And it's only a matter of making a phone call for the Africans to join us. We'll retrieve Azures and Madeira soon."

"This… What do you hope to achieve? You know, if you're going to blackmail me, it's not going to work unless I don't know where they are."

"You know that we wouldn't send you off alone, right? Romano and India will be going with you. And it's more satisfying when you can _see_ what happens to them. And when you're helpless to stop them. Like with Spain."

Portugal's eyes widened and he took an uneasy step back.

"You wouldn't," he said. "There would be too many to stop you."

"How many do you think would stop us when there's a poison-tipped dagger pointed at a relative's throat?" Italy asked. "We wouldn't kill any of them. They're valuable because _you're_ valuable. But you've been around long enough to know that there are fates far worse than death."

Portugal looked down, his fist clenched.

"What more do you want from me?" Portugal whispered.

"Out of the nations we've captured," Italy said, "how many of them are younger than you are?"

"I… I don't even know who else you've…"

"Everyone in Africa," Italy said. "Moldova, Bulgaria, Norway, Iceland, Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau, Brazil, Laos, East Timor, Germany, Prussia… How many of them are older than you? And more importantly, how many of them give off more of a parental vibe than you do? How many of them are friendly and good-natured?"

"You want Portugal to give them a feeling of comfort," Brazil said, eyes wide.

"Exactly," Italy said. "At the moment, he's the most mature out of those that hadn't officially joined us."

"What about Norway?" Portugal asked. "He's mature as well, and I'm sure the fact that he was a former Viking would be more appealing to nations seeking comfort."

"Oh, didn't you hear? Norway is no longer a nation. He's dissolved. Finland would have killed him, but Iceland begged for Norway to stay alive. Sweden and Denmark, on the other hand, are dead. Is there anything of that that you understand?"

"Sim," Portugal said. "Iceland is a nation filled with volcanoes. You wanted him alive and cooperative, just so that you wouldn't have to deal with the volcanoes."

"Pompeii certainly put things into perspective," Italy said. "Many of the nations under our control were children when you built your empire. Quite a few of them were part of your empire. They don't quite realise it, but they would want someone like you to be there for them. _That's_ why we keep you. You're going to make sure that the others stay cooperative. And your own former children will keep _you_ cooperative. Now, I'll leave you to your lunch. It's probably cold by now."


	31. Chapter 30

**Thanks to 17Green Rose18, wwefan, pastaaddict, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Toesz, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, ScandinavianTrash and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 30**

Molossia and Liechtenstein smiled when they reached Amodi's base. It was good to be among allies again after babysitting a group of prisoners.

Switzerland was the one to greet them.

"Hey," Switzerland said. "Did you manage?"

"Of course," Liechtenstein said. "They've all been delivered to their own countries. Though I think they're a little shaken up."

"And I think they were a little sick from watching a pair of 'lovestruck teenagers'," Molossia said.

Switzerland just shook his head.

"I know I'm not really your older brother," he said, looking at Liechtenstein, "but I still don't want to know about it."

"Have you and South spent some time together?" Liechtenstein asked sweetly.

"Yes, but…"

"Then you have no right to criticise."

Switzerland stared at her for a moment before sighing, turning to Molossia.

"Italy wanted to see you," Switzerland said.

Molossia frowned, but nodded his head. He wondered what the other wanted with him. He turned towards Liechtenstein and smiled, before pecking her on the cheek.

"I'll go see what he wants," he said.

"Good luck," Liechtenstein said.

"He's upstairs," Switzerland said. "I think he's taunting Portugal again."

Molossia nodded his thanks, before he went upstairs. He could faintly hear Italy's voice, and he saw Romano leaning against the wall. He went over towards the oldest of the three Italians.

Romano nodded by form of greeting, turning back to the door where they could hear Italy.

"So, how does this work?" Molossia asked.

"When one of us goes into a room with multiple prisoners, someone else waits outside, just in case they decide to try to make a run for it," Romano said. "They haven't tried yet, but better to be safe than sorry."

"Good idea," Molossia said. "So, any idea why he wants to see me?"

"He probably wants you to join the rest of the micronations."

"What are they up to?"

"Asides from the Kirkland trio, the others are out killing other micronations, as well as states and other minor territories. Michoacán, one of Mexico's states, has joined America's group. And then there's a nation that we didn't know had two personifications. Well, one now."

Molossia stared at Romano for a moment.

"I missed a lot, didn't I?" Molossia asked.

"Maybe," Romano said. "Don't worry. We'll fill you in."

Italy chose that moment to withdraw from the room, and his eyes immediately found Molossia. He locked the door behind him before he turned his full attention on the micronation again.

"I'd like you to try to worm your way into America's company," Italy said. "The enemy decided to separate. Joining America is Mexico's state that thought she'd try to declare independence."

"And you want me to kill her?" Molossia asked.

"If you can manage without attracting suspicion, si. But I'd also like you to spy on them. Try to see how much they know. And we'd also like to see what Canada and Mexico's efforts are doing to him."

"Of course. America's one of our biggest problems, isn't he?"

"Si. He's on his way to Madagascar. He thinks he could save her."

"Do you want me to be there when he realises that it's impossible?"

"That would be nice. See if you can join him before he leaves England."

"Of course."

…

East Timor and Laos sat side-by-side, their wrists tied behind their backs and their mouths gagged.

They both felt a surge of terror when the plane landed, and India smirked towards them.

"Indonesia would be near a river, if I'm not mistaken," India said. "Shouldn't be hard to find him then."

East Timor screamed, even though it was muffled by his gag. He didn't want India to go anywhere near his brother. India saw this and smirked.

"If he cooperates, I have no reason to hurt him," India said. "And it should be easy to get him to cooperate. Just tell him that his brother is at risk and he'll follow everything I say."

India left the plane, on his way to go searching for Indonesia. The two prisoners felt even more terrified than ever.

And of course, India didn't leave them alone. They knew that there were a few Amodi soldiers on the plane. The pilot, for example. And while the soldiers had left them alone until now, soldiers could never resist the temptation of helpless prisoners.

…

The girl wrapped her arms tighter around herself. She really hoped that Russia would arrive soon. The cold was starting to bite.

…

America was almost at the airport when his phone rang. He let out an annoyed huff, digging his phone out of his pockets while Michoacán glared at him. He ignored said glare.

"Yo!" America said into the phone. "You've reached the hero."

"Mr America?" a somewhat-timid voice asked from the other side.

"Hey, Molossia," America said. "What's up?"

"Um… Where are you?"

"I'm in England. Why?"

"Could… could I join you? It's not safe in Nevada anymore."

"Sure. Hey, I'm on my way to the airport. Meet me there."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem dude. That's what the hero's for."

He hung up the phone, and only then seemed to become aware of the glare fixed on him. He turned towards the source slowly.

"Next time," Michoacán said, " _I'm_ driving. So, who was that? Because I need to know who to blame for us getting to our destination later than we should."

"Molossia, one of my micronations," America explained. "And don't worry. The micros have this power that lets them go anywhere they want in a flash. I bet he's already there when we arrive."

"A micronation? You mean like those other three that were at the base?"

"Yep."

"I wonder… Does anyone in Amodi have a micronation?"

"I think Italy has a little brother who's one? Why?"

"Just curious. I've actually received word that smaller personifications like states or micronations are being killed by Amodi."

"What?"

"They're being picked off. More micronations and states had died in the last day than nations had died since this war started. I think I scared them. They're trying to sever any loose ends."

"I know about Texas having been killed. If any of my micronations had been killed, then why didn't I feel it yet?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Molossia, was it?"

"Good idea."

"Tell me, does he have any friends?"

"Uh, yeah. He's friends with Sealand's group."

"And who else is in that group?"

"Well, asides from the two Australians, there's one from Austria, one from Sweden, and Italy's little brother."

Michoacán looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Tell me, would you ever use a micronation in a war?" Michoacán asked.

"Of course not," America said. "They're not immortal like us. Sure, they live long, or they _can_ live long, but a fatal attack won't do them good. They can't heal like we can."

"I see. By the way, where exactly in your country is Molossia located?"

"Nevada."

Michoacán nodded her head, looking thoughtful again. America shrugged.

They reached the airport. America took a while to find a good parking space, and after grabbing their luggage, they proceeded to the doors.

Just on the inside of the doors, Molossia was waiting. He smiled when he saw America, but the smile fell when he saw Michoacán.

"Who's this?" Molossia demanded.

"Dude, this is Mel, one of Mexico's states," America said. "She's staying with me while she sorts out her independence."

"Your name is 'Mel'?" Molossia asked, turning to Michoacán.

"It's Michoacán, or Milessia," Michoacán explained. "So, what took you so long to ask America if you could come with him?"

"Huh?"

"You're from Nevada, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So Nevada's been in trouble for a while. Around the beginning of the war, actually. So why did you only call _now_?"

Molossia was silent for a moment.

"There's a war going on?" he asked. "I thought there was just a bunch of protests and maybe a few terrorist attacks or something."

Michoacán narrowed her eyes.

"Haven't you been in contact with the others?" Michoacán asked. "Particularly the Italian micronation?"

"Seborga?" Molossia asked. "No. I haven't been in contact with _any_ micronations lately. No one's answering my calls."

America watched the scene, a curious expression on his face.

"What have you been up to recently?" Michoacán asked.

Molossia's face flushed, and he looked towards America for help.

"Why don't we go get the plane?" America asked. "You guys are going to see what it's like to be a nation: flying in style."

America threw his arms around the other two, leading them away. And whenever the other wasn't looking, Molossia or Michoacán would glare at the other, Michoacán from suspicion, and Molossia from annoyance.

The two would _definitely_ keep an eye on the other.

…

Hungary wasn't exactly happy that she would be going with Turkey, but she had to acknowledge that he was the best choice. It was him, Russia or France.

Still, she didn't trust France with Austria.

"Cyprus," Turkey said, "I want you to call your little brother. Tell him to meet us at my house in Istanbul."

"Isn't that too predictable?" Greece asked, the only person more upset than Hungary about this arrangement.

"I'm only telling him where to meet us. We're going somewhere else afterwards."

Hungary was impressed. Turkey didn't start an argument with Greece, even if he had a good opportunity. That's when she realised that Turkey was _trying_ to be professional. After all, their lives were in his hands. And he didn't hate any of them enough that he would want them dead.

"We're going to need to inform the other Middle Eastern nations to go into hiding," Hungary said.

"Where'd _that_ come from?" Turkey asked.

"Well, I was just thinking that we've already told the Eastern Europeans, and the Western Europeans are mostly with us, and the Africans are a lost cause, so we would need to tell the Middle East. Don't _you_ fall under that group?"

"Yeah, but… It's not going to be easy to get everyone to cooperate. They won't be willing to go into hiding together. We'll skip Three and go to World War Four."

"Then _don't_ tell them to go to the same location. Just tell them to go into hiding."

Turkey was silent for a moment as he pondered her words, before he sighed.

"Cyprus," Turkey said, "once you're finished with your brother, start calling the others."

Hungary sighed, glad that Turkey was listening. He's put his stubbornness aside to make sure that everyone got out safely.

Hungary didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

…

Egypt smirked, enjoying the sight of the nation in front of him. He had found a way to sneak into Iran's house, and decided that he would play around a little.

Iran's clothes were utterly soaked with blood. There were a few tears in the cloth, and there was a large stream of blood gushing from his throat, where a boxcutter was lodged. Iran stared up at Egypt with wide eyes.

Egypt tore his eyes away at the sound of a ringing phone. He frowned, finding Iran's cell phone with ease. He smirked when he saw who was calling.

He pressed 'answer', but didn't say a word.

"Iran!" Cyprus said. "Listen, you need to get to safety. This war isn't like any others. Your life is definitely in danger."

Egypt's smirk widened.

"Hello, Cyprus," he said.

There was silence for a moment on the other end.

"E-Egypt?" Cyprus asked.

Egypt could hear voices in the background and knew that Cyprus wasn't alone. He could hear the faint sound of a car which suddenly got louder.

"Putting me on speaker, eh?" Egypt said. "Let me guess. Turkey and Greece are with you."

"What the hell did you do to Iran?" Turkey asked.

"He's still alive. Barely. Would you like to speak to him? Though, it'll be a little hard. I think I managed to destroy his vocal chords. Oh, and just in case you're doing the rounds, don't bother with Saudi. I already killed him."

"Bastard!" Turkey said.

"You should see the look on his face," Egypt continued. "He's so pale… like a European. Oh, sorry, you are, aren't you? What I meant to say was _Northern_ European. How does that sound?"

"Why are you doing this?" Greece asked.

"Because I want to," Egypt said. "Because I _hate_ the Arab world. They took _everything_ from me. Do you have _any_ idea what it's like to be lumped together with people you _hate_?"

"I have an idea," a voice muttered.

"Oh, Hungary's there too. Well, nothing personal against you. I think Romania would like a swing at you, though. Then again, I _think_ Romania would also like to kill Turkey. I think we can work together on that."

"Bastard…" Turkey said, and Egypt could hear him choking in rage.

A choked sound distracted Egypt from his conversation, and he turned to see Iran.

"Hey, why don't you give me your opinion," he said. "There are a few ways to permanently kill a nation. One of them is to rip out and destroy the heart. Another is by cutting off the senses. That means gauging out the eyes, cutting off the ears, cutting out the tongue, cutting off the nose… Though touch is a little more difficult. That's why touch stays, and you draw out the final one for as long as possible, making sure that the victim feels nothing but pain. And with the heart and the senses, it's highly advisable to eat some of what you took. Well?"

He could see the horror and terror on Iran's face, and he could almost _feel_ the horror through the phone.

"Monster…" Cyprus whispered.

"Well, Iran's bled too much for the senses to work," Egypt said. "I _could_ always try the tactic of letting them drown in their own blood, literally. I think I've managed to hit the windpipe, so there's a possibility that blood's already trickling into his lungs."

"Shut up!" Turkey snapped.

"I could also go with another tactic," Egypt said. "Though this one isn't much fun. I would basically just shoot him with special bullets that we've designed. It's quick and relatively painless. So, which method should I use?"

"Just let him go," Greece said.

"That's not an option."

There was silence on the other end.

"The…" Hungary said. "The gun."

"Oh, too bad I don't have one with me. Now, make your choice."

"You…" Turkey said. "I'll kill you. You hear me!"

"Empty threats," Egypt said offhandedly. "Clock is ticking."

There was a tone on the other end, and Egypt removed the phone.

"They hung up," Egypt said. "Oh, and I lied. I _do_ have a gun with me, but that's reserved for someone I don't hate. Or if they're in public and I can't play with them. Oh well."

He smirked at Iran.

"It would seem that 'letting the victim drown in their own blood' it is."

…

"That's sick," Hungary whispered. "That's…"

"We've all had murderers and psychopaths before," Turkey said. "Some we even worked for. But… to have a fellow _nation_ like that…"

"He's not the only one," Greece said. "How many others in Amodi are like that?"

"I'd say pretty much all of them," Cyprus said.

"They're on a killing spree," Turkey said.

"What was your first clue?" Greece asked.

"Shut up. Are we really going to wait until they decide to come kill us?"

"Until we know _where_ they are, we have no choice," Hungary said.

"Well, we know where Egypt is. And most likely who he's going to go after. I say we bring the fight to him."

"What about my brother?" Cyprus asked.

"…After we get him to a safe place."

"We have a bit of an advantage," Greece said. "Egypt told us how to kill nations."

"What could they do to make special bullets, though?" Hungary asked. "I mean, what exactly makes those bullets special?"

"No idea," Turkey said. "We'll be sure to ask him when we see him."

…

In England's car, England was the one driving while Wales was in the passenger seat, fast asleep. They had given him some painkillers and figured that having him in the backseat would make his injuries worse.

Sealand was seated between the two Irish brothers, playing a game on a handheld console. England was just glad that he was being quiet.

"So, where exactly are we _going_?" Sealand asked.

England sighed in annoyance. So much for Sealand being quiet.

"I can't tell you," England said. "This is for all our safety."

"But why?" Sealand asked.

"Because, alright? You wouldn't understand. You're not a real nation. You wouldn't know anything about war."

England had to repress a shudder. He could practically _feel_ Sealand glaring at him, but he would ignore it. After all, England knew that he was right. Sealand had no military, and his population was a joke. He was also too young to have seen the first two World Wars.

"You forget one thing, jerk," Sealand said.

"And what would _that_ be?" England asked, deciding to humour the child.

"What Sealand used to be."

England rolled his eyes.

"Just because your 'country' was a military fort doesn't mean that _you_ would know anything about the subject."

"I should have stayed with Finland," Sealand spat.

"You didn't hear what he's done to the other Nordics, did you?"

"What?"

"He murdered them all."

"Huh? But, Finland wouldn't…"

"The Finland you knew doesn't exist. I don't want you to go there. Understood?" A thought struck England. "Wait, if you didn't know what Finland has done, why did you stay with us?"

"Because _you_ are doing something cool. I'm going to prove to you that I'm a real nation by helping in this war."

"Keep dreaming, kid," Ireland said.

"He's right," Northern Ireland said. "You're only asking for trouble."

No one was aware of Wales's smirk, having woken up briefly at the sound of voices. He was the only one that could appreciate just how skilled at this Sealand _was_.

An ideal spy.


	32. Chapter 31

**Thanks to V, Eternal Nexus Warrior, pastaaddict, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, Toesz and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing. And now this story has officially more than 300 reviews. Thank you.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 31**

Czech sighed in relief when Slovakia pulled up in Russia's driveway. They hadn't been attacked during their voyage, but now they would have to wait for Russia to arrive.

They decided to wait in their rental car, with the heater turned up.

"What's that?" Slovakia asked, squinting.

Czech followed his gaze, seeing a green blur approaching them. Frowning in confusion, Slovakia opened his door.

"No," Czech scolded. "It could be one of _them_."

Slovakia hesitated, before turning to look at the blur. Czech felt her stomach drop when she realised that it was a child, a little girl in fact, and she looked as though she had been waiting for a while. The only hint that she wasn't a human was the large sword strapped to her back.

"I can't just leave her," Slovakia said, climbing out of the car.

As soon as she saw them, the girl instantly came to a stop. She even took a nervous step back. Slovakia smiled warmly.

"What are you doing here?" Slovakia asked.

She looked around, but didn't answer. Slovakia frowned in concern.

Czech also climbed out of the car, watching the little girl.

"Are you looking for Russia?" Czech asked.

The girl nodded her head, her eyes darting around.

"I recognise that military uniform," Czech said. "That's Lithuania's. Do you know him?"

The little girl nodded, wringing her hands nervously.

"Are you a nation?" Slovakia asked.

"C-capital," the girl said.

"So you can speak," Czech said. "What is your name?"

The girl didn't answer, stepping back again.

"She's wearing Lithuania's military jacket," Slovakia said. "I think that might _actually_ be Lithuania's. Are you his capital? What was the name again?"

"Vilnius?" Czech offered.

The girl nodded her head, and Czech sighed.

"I think the most important thing right now is whether or not any of us are members of Amodi," Czech said. "Well?"

Vilnius shook her head, and the two nations relaxed.

"We're waiting for Russia too," Slovakia said. "Why don't you get out of the cold?"

She hesitated for a moment, before running over. Slovakia smiled, unlocking the backdoor for her.

"Now that I think about it," Czech said, "I think I've seen her before."

"Didn't Lithuania mention that he had a sister?" Slovakia asked.

Czech sighed, looking at the girl through the mirror.

"It looks like we're going to be waiting a while for Russia," Czech said.

…

Russia was smiling, relaxing in the seat of the private plane. There was nothing to do for now, and he felt that it was a great time to relax and calmly consider everything that has happened.

Ukraine, on the other hand, was completely nervous. Occasionally she would bring her hand to her neck, running her fingers over the puncture wounds and imagining Belarus's hand wrapped around her throat.

"Where did we go wrong?" Ukraine muttered.

"Hm?" Russia asked, turning his attention to his sister. "What do you mean?"

"Natalya," Ukraine clarified. "What happened to make her hate us so?"

Russia sighed, rubbing his temples.

"I don' know," he said. "I've been trying to figure out when they had gotten to her, but…"

"Nothing stands out," she said. "It's like Japan said. They could have gotten to her during a war."

"Or when she was still very young. I mean, she's been like that since we were still young. But as we grew older, she became worse."

Ukraine nodded, biting her lip.

"I feel like we've failed," she said. "I feel like _I've_ failed. What kind of older sister am I?"

"You were like a mother to us," Russia said. "The fact that Natalya would throw all that away… She has no respect for all you've done for us. You are not to blame for what Natalya has become. Perhaps she has always been like that. We just never noticed."

A tear rolled down Ukraine's cheek, and Russia sighed.

"You know that we have to find a way to stop her, da?" Russia asked.

Ukraine nodded.

"I know," she said. "But it doesn't change the fact that she's my sister."

Russia sighed, reaching over towards her. She gasped in surprise when he lifted her, placing her on his lap.

"I know," Russia said. "It hurts me too."

Ukraine sniffled, hugging Russia close.

…

France's group arrived at an old base, not too far from Lyon. France's argument was that it would be too predictable if he chose a place too close to Paris, and the others grudgingly agreed.

It was while they were getting settled that Netherlands decided to approach France.

"Not that I don't mind you getting us out of the direct line of fire," Netherlands said, "but why _did_ you call us?"

France looked towards Netherlands's right hand and sighed.

"I had a feeling that you had feelings for Portugal," France said. "The same with China. I could sometimes see the red thread when I looked hard enough. It helps that you don't know how to hide it. North Korea confirmed what I suspected."

"A triangle," Netherlands said. He brought up his right hand, looking at it for a moment. "So, Portugal and I share that connection?"

"Oui, along with China. If you can somehow manage a ménage à trois, it would be good. The bond would grow stronger, making _you_ stronger."

"So the triangle aspect doesn't hurt it?"

"Non. Au contraire, it is one of the strongest forms of the bond d'amour."

Netherlands was quiet for a moment.

"North Korea seemed interested in it," Netherlands said. "He made it clear that he knew about it. Why?"

France looked thoughtful.

"There are a few possibilities," France said. "Most of them aren't good. Your bond is still not as strong as it could be, but it isn't among the weakest. They might try to add it to their own, or…"

"Or?" Netherlands prompted.

"They could try to break it. It has reached a point where breaking it would have damaging effects."

"How would they go about breaking it?"

"'Out of mind, out of sight'. Distance could make sure that you lose interest. But it is risky, because of 'absence makes the heart grow fonder', where being apart could make the bonds stronger. It could go either way, depending on how you feel about him, or if something comes along to draw your attention away."

"Not likely," Netherlands said. "I've been in love with Portugal for about two hundred years."

"Then why didn't you act on it?" France scolded.

Netherlands looked away, a blush on his cheeks.

"Love had no place in politics," Netherlands said. "China felt the same."

"That didn't stop Italy's group," France said. "Just imagine how North Korea and Belarus could be together."

Netherlands looked thoughtful.

"They certainly didn't make it obvious," Netherlands said.

"Non, they didn't. They were quite discreet about it. They allowed their relationship to bloom in secret. I imagine most of them would be paired off together."

"The question is, _who_? Who is paired with whom?"

"I think Italy and Poland are together. Why else would the two of them be the leaders? And Egypt and Canada arrived together the other day, so I assume they're together as well."

"But the rest isn't as obvious. How did they manage to hide it all this time?"

"They are masters of deception. But if the Koreas joined around the Second World War, then too much time wouldn't have been necessary. Belarus and North Korea couldn't have had a lot of time to get together, or spend time together, unless Belarus managed to sneak in during North Korea's isolation."

"Their bond is stronger than mine is with Portugal," Netherlands said, looking at his hand again.

France bit his lip in thought.

"I'm going to call China," France announced. "You'd be joining them. I don't understand why I didn't think of it before."

"What?" Netherlands asked incredulously. "Why?"

"You and China need to resolve your issues and work together to be able to save Portugal. It would certainly make the bond stronger."

Netherlands sulked, and France had to suppress his laughter. It wasn't often that one saw someone like Netherlands sulking.

"Keep my siblings safe then," Netherlands said, going towards the door.

"You don't have to go yet," France said.

"China's still on his flight," Netherlands said. "If I can get there around the same time that he does, he wouldn't be able to turn me away."

"But you don't know where exactly he is going."

Netherlands paused, before he sighed.

"Call him," Netherlands said.

…

America was sleeping on the flight, completely oblivious to the tension between the smaller personifications. Michoacán and Molossia kept glaring at each other, not saying a word.

Michoacán's eyes narrowed, and Molossia knew that now it would begin.

"I still don't understand why you waited so long," she said. "You should have been aware of the war sooner. You should have gone for safety sooner."

"I've been cooped up in my house," Molossia said. "Doing some gardening, reading… And since no one was answering my calls, I didn't exactly press further."

"Are you seriously expecting me to believe it?"

"Well, what _do_ you believe?"

Michoacán's eyes narrowed further, but she didn't answer.

"What exactly is your problem with me?" Molossia asked.

Michoacán once again refused to answer. Molossia huffed, crossing his arms. He wanted to take out his phone, maybe play a few games, but knew that it would look suspicious. He also couldn't report her suspicions to the others.

This would be a _long_ flight.

…

Once they had arrived at their new base, Wales had gone to one of the rooms, claiming it as his own. He didn't wait long until he fell asleep.

His sleep was disturbed by knocking, before the door opened, revealing England.

"Are you doing alright?" England asked.

"Yeah," Wales said. "Those painkillers you gave me are really strong."

"Yes. I suppose they would knock you out. But how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. No need to worry."

"Are you sure? You've sustained a lot of damage."

"I'm _fine_ ," Wales said, trying very hard to not put too much venom in his voice. "I just want to sleep."

"Alright then. Call if you need anything."

England closed the door, and Wales wanted to scream into the pillow. A part of him was touched by England's concern, and another part of him remembered the times that he had been injured far worse than this. When England was the one to inflict those injuries. He sure as hell wasn't concerned for him _then_.

Wales had been advised to wait for the right time, but he was finding it difficult. The more time he spent around his brothers, the more he would be plagued by memories of what they had done to him. How they had injured him, _abused_ him, but also how they had simply stood to the side, watching it happen. No attempts were made to try and help him.

His brothers might have forgotten, but he didn't. He actually had to thank the other members of Amodi for reminding him of all the horrors he had suffered at their hands. Especially England's.

He would play his usual self, only suffering from injuries. The pills _did_ make him drowsy, though not to the extent that he had implied. He would simply sleep as much as possible. That way, he could be sure that he wouldn't make any mistakes.

He made himself comfortable again, before drifting off to sleep.

…

China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan were on a plane, watching one of South Korea's movies. They could see the South that they had known in that film. It was light-hearted and even a little silly. They couldn't imagine him any other way, but they would have to accept that that wasn't the South Korea that truly existed.

The part that scared them was the fact that they didn't _know_ the true South Korea. They did have an idea about North Korea, though.

China jumped in surprise when his phone started to ring, and he cursed before he answered.

"Aiyaa, what do you want?" China demanded.

"I need you to take Netherlands with you," France said.

"No," China said almost immediately.

He didn't really want to take any of the Western nations, especially not Netherlands. He was the one getting in the way of him and Portugal. He _wouldn't_ take him with him.

"This is important," France said. "Remember the Bonds that Amodi has? Well, both you and Netherlands share that bond with Portugal. The chances are good that you will both be targets because of that. And I also think it would be good to strengthen the bond between the two of you."

"And why's that?" China asked.

"Strength. It might also help you save Portugal."

China couldn't help but feel that he was being blackmailed. He wasn't quite sure about the Frenchman's logic, though if they also had a bond like Amodi's…

"Fine," China said. "Tell him to meet us at the Beijing airport."

He hung up the phone, not wanting to discuss this further. He saw the others looking at him curiously and sighed.

"Netherlands is going to join us," he said.

"Any particular reason _why_?" Vietnam asked.

China blushed, refusing to answer.

"You and Netherlands?" Taiwan asked. "That's so cute!"

"No!" China snapped. "It's nothing like _that_. At least not between _us_."

"I see," Japan said, a small smile on his face. "I had asked France-san a little more about those Bonds. He said that triangles make good relationships."

China sputtered, and Taiwan leaned over eagerly.

"Really?" Taiwan asked. "Who's the third one then?"

"Aiyaa!" China exclaimed. "You've been spending too much time with Hungary. This is none of your business."

Taiwan and Japan exchanged a look, and China could see the gears in their heads turning. He was already regretting allowing Netherlands to join them.

…

France had told them where Madagascar lived. America was pleased to see that they had no problems with their landing, while Michoacán thought it suspicious. The airport allowed them to land, and they ignored the fact that there were no other planes taking off or landing.

Molossia had offered to stay on the plane. It was a little dangerous for him, and America agreed. Michoacán was conflicted, wanting to join America and wanting to keep an eye on Molossia. Eventually she decided that she didn't want to be alone with Molossia and went with America.

The two managed to find Madagascar's house without a problem. This of course made Michoacán more suspicious, though America was too focused on saving Madagascar. He was focused on getting the first territory away from Amodi. It would be their first victory.

America sighed, before knocking on the door. Michoacán had a revolver drawn, just in case. America would have asked about her weapons, but he wasn't really one to judge. He had two firearms as well, hidden inside his jacket.

It was a tense few seconds as they waited for the door to open, but eventually it did. Madagascar seemed completely surprised to see them, but one could see the relief on her face.

"'Sup?" America greeted. "We're here to save you, dudette."

Madagascar's face broke into a smile, and she threw her arms around America's neck.

"Merci," she said. "Shall we go?"

"Don't you have anything you want to bring?" Michoacán asked.

The island nation shook her head, a scowl on her face.

"I just want to leave here as soon as possible," she said. " _They've_ been calling frequently to 'check-up' on me. I'd rather not be here when they call again. I want to be as far away as possible."

America nodded his head, a sombre expression on his face. The trio looked around again, but there was no one on the streets. No soldiers, and no civilians. America led the way back to the airport.

They sighed in relief when they returned to the plane, and America signalled to the pilot that they could take off. Michoacán glanced around, unable to see Molossia nearby.

"Don't worry," America said, looking at Madagascar. "You're safe now. You're free from Italy and the others."

She smiled, but before she could say anything, she started to cough. Michoacán looked towards her in concern.

"Is something wrong?" Michoacán asked.

"No," Madagascar said, out of breath and smiling weakly. "It's just a…"

She broke out into harsher coughs, and America fled, going towards the kitchen area to get water for her. Michoacán watched the island nation, feeling a growing sense of unease.

America returned with a glass of water, and Madagascar greedily drank its contents. She looked up at the other two, her eyes wide with fear.

"What's happening?" Madagascar asked, before the coughing fit returned with a vengeance.

America and Michoacán stared in horror as red droplets escaped the island's mouth. When there was another pause in the fit, Madagascar stared at her hand in horror.

"What's going on?!" she demanded, her voice hysterical.

"Shit," Michoacán said. "I thought this was too easy. This is what happens when nations are recaptured from Amodi."

"Are you sure?" America asked, alarmed.

"Explain why else this started the _moment_ you said she was free."

The coughing became worse, and more blood came out of Madagascar's mouth. It could no longer be called 'droplets'. There was too much at a time. Her eyes widened, before she looked towards America. She smiled weakly though the blood.

"I don't blame you," she rasped.

She coughed one final time, before collapsing. Michoacán immediately checked the other's breathing and pulse. She pulled back, horrified.

"She's dead," Michoacán announced.

"Hey guys," Molossia said, returning to the cabin. "What's up?"

"Dude, where were you?" America asked.

"Bathroom. I think I ate some bad Mexican food."

Michoacán stood up from her kneeling position. Before either male could react, she pulled her gun out and had it pointed towards Molossia.

"Whoa!" America exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"I had my suspicions about you," Michoacán said, speaking to Molossia. "Everything you've done and said falls into place. You're working for Amodi, aren't you?"

 **Credit for Vilnius goes to Eternal Nexus Warrior.**


	33. Chapter 32

**Thanks to Aquafin, Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, pastaaddict, topaz3, magicflyingmintbunnies, ScandinavianTrash, yanrulim and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 32**

The two Americans were silent as the Mexican's words seemed to echo in the air. Molossia was the first to recover, and he feigned a look of shock.

"What the hell gave you that idea?" Molossia asked.

"Nevada was one of the first states to have unrest," Michoacán explained. "Unrest that was similar to that experienced in the former Confederate states. You should have called America sooner, but you _didn't_. Micronations, states and other smaller personifications are being killed off. You were completely alone, or so you claimed, and they left you alone? Plus, you're friends with the micronation that _happens_ to be Italy's little brother. You also asked not to come along when we went to retrieve Madagascar, and you only choose to show yourself _after_ she's died? If you're trying to be subtle, you failed epically."

America also looked at Molossia with a bit of suspicion, but it was clear that he didn't quite buy it yet.

"You have _no_ proof!" Molossia shouted.

Michoacán's eyes narrowed, before she pulled the trigger. She aimed for Molossia's arm, and the micronation screamed in pain, but the shot fulfilled its purpose. As Molossia clutched his wound, the red and yellow ribbons appeared around his hand and wrist.

America's eyes widened, and he pulled out his own gun. Molossia's eyes widened as well, before he ducked behind the closest seat.

"Why?" America asked. "Why did you join them?"

"Do you have to ask?" Molossia asked, no longer attempting to keep up the farce. "Tell me, back with the Revolution, if someone made you an offer, saying that they would help you become a nation, wouldn't you have taken it?"

"This is what it's about? Dude, there are other ways. You didn't have to join them."

"Oh really? Tell me, how long was Florida a nation? Fifty days? California? Point is, you think it's your 'manifest destiny' to be the 'greatest' nation in the world. You tried to take Canada and Mexico too, but they were stronger than you thought. You then tried to enforce your 'democracy' on other nations, and what happened? Oh yeah, the _epic fail_ that is Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan… I knew that you were the last person I could trust to help me, and I knew that I couldn't fight you. Not alone."

America looked shocked, and Michoacán started creeping closer.

"The other micronations," Michoacán said. "The ones in your group of friends, are they part of Amodi too?"

Molossia didn't answer, and instead addressed America again.

"You think yourself the hero," Molossia said, "but the truth of the matter is, you're just as 'evil' as us. All nations are fucked up, but they show it at different points in time. So what if the Amodi nations show it _now_? Before this war is over, I guarantee that you're going to cross as many lines as we have. And I should congratulate you, Michoacán. You're one of the few smart people not on our side. Too bad that they tend to not have a long life expectancy. So tell me, how were you able to pick up on all the little clues? I thought I was doing a good job with being subtle."

"You _could_ have tried a little harder," Michoacán said. "And I'll admit that you're pretty good at lying. No tremor in your voice. Body language is also pretty decent. But I've worked with liars, thieves and murderers. I run a _cartel_ , for goodness sake! I know how to read people, no matter how good they are at deception."

"I'll be sure to pass on the message."

Michoacán pointed her gun as she turned to the back of the seat, but Molossia was already gone.

"Shit," Michoacán said. "He's gone. Coward."

"If he had the red ribbon," America said, "who is it connected to?"

"That could be a problem. We need to let England know that the micronations are on their side as well."

…

"Fucking bitch!"

Italy jumped. He glanced at Poland, before they went to see what was going on. They hadn't expected Molossia back so soon.

Before they reached him, they heard an angry scream from Liechtenstein, and they knew that something had happened.

They saw Molossia clutching his arm, blood soaking the sleeve. Liechtenstein was standing nearby, a look of pure rage on her face.

"What happened?" Poland demanded.

"Michoacán," Molossia spat. "That bitch is smarter than we've anticipated. She managed to figure it out, _just_ because I'm friends with Marcello, and because I didn't contact them earlier."

"And does she suspect the others?" Italy asked.

Molossia nodded, and Italy swore.

"I managed to stall them a little," Molossia said. "Gave me enough time to send a message to NK."

"And what did you say?" Poland asked.

"To cut off all communications in the UK."

Italy smirked.

"That was a smart move," Italy said. "Angelo! You have a patient!"

Out of all of them, Vatican was the best when it came to taking care of medical emergencies. He arrived, looking annoyed for a moment, before his eyes landed on Molossia. He sighed, before gesturing for the micronation to follow him.

Italy and Poland glanced towards Liechtenstein, who was trembling in rage.

"You okay?" Poland asked.

"Nein," Liechtenstein said. "That bitch… I will skin her alive and grind her bones into dust! When I'm done with her, not even the South Americans would want her flesh."

Italy and Poland exchanged a glance, and they silently agreed that they would leave Liechtenstein alone and go have a word with North to see if he had managed to cut off the communications in the United Kingdom.

…

India sighed in relief. Finally, the plane arrived at the final airport on his stop. He glanced over towards Indonesia, East Timor and Laos. Each of them was tied up and had a gag in his mouth.

"We're almost there," India said. "Now you can see what our base looks like."

He knew that messing with their minds was a good call. That if they saw that he considered this a game, they wouldn't be likely to lash out. They would think him crazy and unstable, and they would certainly not want to make him snap.

"A group of Italian soldiers will come to help me escort you," India said. "So, escape is impossible."

He had to make sure they understood their situation. That meant less work for him, and he could focus on returning to Romano.

…

"Crap," America said, before hanging up his phone. "No calls are getting through. I can't reach them."

"I doubt Amodi had enough time to do anything," Michoacán said. "And it's not just England and his brothers. No one in their countries seems to be able to contact anyone."

"How do you know?"

"I have a few contacts."

"Okay, and while we're on the subject, what's that about you running a cartel?"

"Hey, I don't have an army yet. So I have to use _something_ to fill the gaps."

"And you're doing it through illegal means?" America asked, sounding very suspicious.

"Excuse me, but would you mind explaining to me how waterboarding works?"

America narrowed his eyes.

"Fine, point taken," America said. "Do you think he's right? Do you think we're all the same?"

"Yes and no," Michoacán said. "All nations have a dark side, that's true, and they tend to access it during war. I don't know if you're going to cross all those lines that they had."

America looked bothered, and Michoacán sighed.

"'All's fair in love and war'," Michoacán said. "We just need to make sure that we keep it in war conditions. And we shouldn't attack any nations that aren't members of Amodi. We might have to kill them, you know?"

"I don't want to. I mean…"

"It's not like with Germany or Russia. They weren't brainwashed by their bosses. They have fallen off the deep end on their own. Even after this war ends, we won't be able to live with them, regardless of who wins. They're sociopaths and they don't care about anyone else outside their little group. I'm not really sure if they even care about each other. But would you ever trust any of them again?"

America avoided her gaze, and she sighed.

"The biggest difference between us and them is that when we go dark, it's because of our governments and people influencing us. But _their_ darkness is something completely different. Their darkness comes from their own minds. They've lost their humanity. We can't allow them to continue."

"I guess," America said. "Come on. We've got to tell the other nations about what happened to Madagascar."

…

"Are you serious?" China asked.

They were waiting for Netherlands at the airport, and China had received a phone call from America. The others watched as China's face twisted in horror.

China hung up the phone before turning to the others.

"That was America," China said. "Amodi did something to Madagascar. She died, just when they managed to get her away."

Taiwan gasped, her hands quickly coming to cover her mouth. The others all widened their eyes.

"How?" Thailand asked.

"Maybe France knows," China said, starting to dial the Frenchman's number. "They seem to be using techniques passed on by Rome, after all."

"Do you think we'll be able to save them?" Taiwan asked. "Macau and Hong Kong and Tibet?"

China sighed, and it was clear that they were all wondering the same thing.

Vietnam was startled when her own phone started ringing, and she quickly answered it.

The others watched as China and Vietnam spoke to the nations on the other side of their phones. They already knew who China was speaking to and what it was about, so they were mostly focused on Vietnam, who appeared to be extremely worried.

Vietnam sighed, before she hung up her phone.

"That was Myanmar," Vietnam explained. "It seems that Laos has gone missing."

"Do you think it's _them_?" Taiwan asked.

"Without a doubt," Vietnam said.

China hung up his own phone and turned to the others.

"France doesn't quite recognise what happened," China said. "He thinks that it's possible that they had found something else that would prevent the nations under their control to escape."

"They really thought ahead," Japan said. "Now, I'm curious. Did they know that America-san and Michoacán-san were coming? Or was it something that was already in place?"

"I think that's something already in place," Taiwan said. "I spoke to Black. He said that White was forced to sign a contract or something. Now, why make the nations under your control sign a contract?"

"Unless that contract has some magic in it that would affect a nation," Thailand supplied. "Like a 'no escape clause' or something."

China nodded his head.

"Come on," he said. "I think Netherland's flight is here. Let's get the western bastard and get out of here."

…

"Blast," England said, tossing the phone away angrily.

Scotland looked over towards him, his own phone in his hand.

"No reception," Scotland said. "Do you think it's them?"

"I don't see how it _can_ be," England said. "I mean, how would they have managed to take out our cell phone signals?"

"Could have knocked down a tower," Ireland suggested.

"No, I would have felt it. It's probably just some technical glitch. It should be fixed in a few hours."

"And if it isn't?" Scotland asked.

"Then I'll make a trip to London tomorrow to see what exactly is going on."

…

Russia sighed in relief, seeing his house looming closer. He and Ukraine had made it without incident. He could see a rental car in the driveway, and he sincerely hoped that it was Czech and Slovakia.

He stopped and climbed out of the car, Ukraine following suit. The backdoor of the other car opened, and Russia stood there, waiting in anticipation. His eyes widened when a small green shape ran towards him.

"Vilnius?" he questioned.

"Ivan!" the girl shouted, throwing her arms around his waist as much as she could.

"What are you doing here, little flower?" Russia asked, picking up the little girl.

"They k-killed T-Toris," the little girl sniffled. "A-and I-I knew that P-Poland w-would come l-looking for m-me, so I-I came h-here, but you w-weren't here, and…"

"And suddenly she's really talkative," Czech interrupted.

Russia glanced over towards the female nation. Vilnius stopped talking, shrinking closer to Russia.

"She's a little shy," Ukraine explained. "Mari doesn't really talk to anyone other than me, Russia, Lithuania and America."

"So, essentially she's selectively mute," Czech said.

Slovakia stepped in before anyone else could say anything.

"So, aren't we going somewhere?" Slovakia asked.

"Da," Russia said, putting the little girl down. "Climb in. We have a long drive ahead of us."

"Something happened," Czech said, examining Russia's face.

Ukraine sighed.

"America called," Ukraine said. "They had tried to save Madagascar from Amodi's control, but… as soon as she was away from her own land she died."

"What?" Czech and Slovakia said.

"I think they made sure that no one could be saved from them," Russia said.

"I can't believe that Feliks would do something like this," Slovakia said.

"Where's Hungary?" Czech asked.

"She's with Turkey," Ukraine said.

"Oh, she's probably happy about that," Slovakia said sarcastically.

"Come on," Russia said again. "I want to get to a safe location as soon as possible. One that Belarus doesn't know about."

Czech and Slovakia exchanged a glance, but they didn't delay any longer. They climbed in the backseat, Vilnius nestled between them and not looking happy.

"I still don't quite understand why she likes Russia," Czech whispered.

"Because Ivan kept her safe during the days of the Soviet Union," Ukraine said, having heard the other female. "And because he reunited her with Lithuania after Poland separated them in the first place."

The two on the backseat exchanged a glance, but didn't comment on it anymore. They had more important things to worry about.

Like getting as much information as possible.

…

Romano was waiting for India, and he smiled when the other arrived.

India smiled as well, and the two hugged each other. The three prisoners stood behind, watching the scene with some surprise.

Italy came closer, and he took a moment to admire the tender moment between his brother and his brother's lover before turning to the three prisoners.

India had removed the gags and had untied their ankles, but their wrists were tied in front of them now.

"East Timor, come with me," Italy said. "You two, take Indonesia to White and Laos to Tibet."

East Timor looked frightened, Laos looked slightly relieved, and Indonesia looked confused. Italy grabbed East Timor by the arm and started to lead him away.

"He shouldn't get too comfortable," Romano said, smiling at India. "We leave for Sicily tonight, with Portugal and his former charges."

"If only it could be just the two of us," India sighed forlornly.

Indonesia had a bit of a disgusted look on his face, while Laos mostly looked disturbed.

…

Portugal felt a twinge of fear when the door was opened again. Macau and Brazil also looked anxious. Italy's face was revealed first, before he dragged someone else into their sights. East Timor grunted when he was shoved into the room.

"Have fun," Italy said, before he left them.

"Timor," Portugal said, rushing to his former charge's side. "Are you alright?"

"S-sim," East Timor said, looking at the other three in the room. "Why are you here?"

"It's a long story," Macau said. "But in a nutshell, Portugal is their main prisoner and the rest of us are here to keep him in line."

"What do they hope to achieve?"

"It's a long story," Brazil said.

Portugal had helped East Timor to his feet and was untying his hands. East Timor looked over towards Portugal.

"I have a feeling we'll be here for a while," East Timor said. "You have plenty of time to explain."

…

Norway stared blankly at the TV. Iceland sighed. Norway had been like that for a while. Apparently, Finland had thought it fit to execute the royal families of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. To make matters worse, it had been aired on TV, and Finland had forced Norway to watch.

Norway had been unresponsive ever since.

Iceland was worried about his brother. Both of them had lost their closest friends, witnessing the murder of two of them while the third betrayed them. And Norway had been hit extra hard because he had also lost his nation status. And watching his royal family being executed…

It would be enough to traumatise _anyone_.

"Big brother?" Iceland prompted.

Norway didn't respond, and Iceland sighed in frustration, burying his hands in his hair and pulling at the strands. If _that_ didn't work, then he didn't know what would.

Iceland gasped when Finland entered, looking at Norway with a cruelly amused look. Iceland wanted to wipe that look off Finland's face.

Iceland's attention was then averted to the nations behind Finland. Romania stood there, looking at Norway with the same expression that Finland had, while Bulgaria and Moldova were behind _him_. The latter two looked as though they didn't want to be there, and they appeared to want to make themselves smaller.

"You have some new friends," Finland said. "Have fun."

Finland and Romania left, and Bulgaria and Moldova stood there awkwardly. Bulgaria swallowed nervously, before he entered the room.

"How'd they get you?" Iceland asked.

"Kidnap and blackmail," Bulgaria said. "He won't hurt me, as long as I take care of Moldova."

"And he won't hurt him if I'm _good_ ," Moldova said. He looked towards Norway. "What's wrong with him?"

"Finland made him watch his royal family's execution," Iceland explained.

"What?" Bulgaria asked.

Both Eastern Europeans had looks of horror on their faces.

"I didn't even feel them."

They looked at Norway with surprise. His voice was… empty. Not reserved or deadpan or bored or cold. Just… empty.

"What?" Iceland asked.

"I didn't feel them," Norway repeated. "My king, my queen… I didn't feel them die. I didn't feel them. I should have."

Iceland could feel himself growing just a little sick. He could finally understand what was bothering Norway.

It was a harsh reminder that he was no longer a nation. That everything he used to be was gone.

Forever.

 **Oh yeah, before I forget: AngelBlue1852 started posting a spin-off of sorts, and has posted a map of what the territories look like, with the exception of Indonesia. The link is: 10jskbuilder. deviantart art /New-World-Order-Series-Universe-618074398. Just ignore spaces. The story link is: www. fanfiction s/ 12024991/ 1/ Hetalia-New-World-Order-Retaliation-Part-1. Again, ignore spaces.**


	34. Chapter 33

**Thanks to juja0010, Time Turner, espeon64, Eternal Nexus Warrior, TransparentRuler, pastaaddict, Bubblegum Ruler, snowgem33, magicflyingmintbunnies and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 33**

White was surprised when the door was opened and someone was thrown into the room. She stared for a moment in surprise, before leaping to her feet as she recognised the nation.

"Indonesia?" she asked.

Indonesia looked up, surprised to see her.

"South Africa?" he asked. "Wait, so are you 'White'?"

"Ja," she said. "White South Africa, although now, it's just South Africa."

She walked over towards him, starting to untie his wrists.

"Why?" he asked. "What happened?"

She sighed. She might as well tell him.

"See, I was only part of South Africa," she said. "The colonial part. The native part was represented by my colleague, Black South Africa."

"I see," Indonesia said. "And what happened to them?"

She looked down, fighting back tears.

"He was killed," she said. "Executed, actually. By Italy."

His eyes widened, and he started to tremble.

"Do you think… They'll do the same to _us_?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said.

The two sat on the floor, side-by-side. Indonesia suddenly chuckled, prompting White to look at him with a curious expression.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"I think we've spoken to each other now more than we did when we were both under Netherlands's control," Indonesia said. "You know, I used to hate you back then. You were like a miniature version of him, only cheerful and female."

"You saw him in me," she said, a small smile appearing on her face. "You know, I resented you as well. He gave me to England, while he kept you."

"The difference is that Netherlands found more use in me," Indonesia said, sighing. "Three hundred years as his slave… I would have willingly joined Amodi, if not…"

"If not for what?"

Indonesia sighed.

"I _don't_ hate Netherlands," Indonesia said. "And I don't agree with what Amodi is doing. They're killing people left, right and centre, and a lot of other nations are either disappearing or won't contact anyone."

"You haven't reached the point that they have," White sighed. "You still have your humanity."

"And also… I remember what Japan did to me during World War Two. The thought of having to live through that again, whether I'm the one doing it or not…"

"You still suffer from PTSD, right?"

"How would you know that?"

She sighed, before picking up one of the books. She showed him the title of the book, and he frowned.

"Because it's the same with me," she said.

…

Tibet and Hong Kong looked up when the door opened, revealing India and Laos. Laos was pushed inside the room without a word from India, before he closed the door behind them.

"Are you alright?" Tibet asked, standing up to approach the other.

"They at least didn't hurt me," Laos said. "I… I think they want me because of my dreams."

They heard a hiss and looked towards Hong Kong, who was moving awkwardly. Tibet smiled. Hong Kong wasn't used to sitting still for long periods of time. Not like Tibet and Laos.

"We were trying to clear our minds to think of a plan," Tibet said, undoing the other's bonds. "So far, the only thing we've come up with is keeping quiet and to not cause any troubles."

"What's going on in the outside world?" Hong Kong asked, looking at Laos.

"China's one of the nations that chose to fight against Amodi," Laos explained. "He also called Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan to help. He also tried calling a few others, such as myself, but… I didn't want to take part in this war. I wanted to remain neutral."

"Neutrality is not an option," Tibet sighed. "And they're confident in their abilities."

"They kill nations," Laos said. "They've killed the Baltics, and no one knows what happened to Prussia and Germany…"

"They're in the basement," Hong Kong interrupted.

Laos blinked.

"They're alive?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hong Kong said, "but not unharmed."

"I see."

"What about England?"

"At the moment, he's at the head of the non-Amodi nations, but so far they've had no success. It's only the beginning of the war, but it would already seem as though Amodi would win."

"That's depressing," Hong Kong said, slumping down on the bed.

Laos looked at the bed and blinked in surprise, seeing that it was a double bed.

"Um, have you two been…?" he asked.

"We've been sharing the bed," Tibet said. "But only because there aren't other options."

"And he fell out of it the first night," Hong Kong said, a small smirk on his face. "He's not used to sleeping in a bed like this."

Tibet blushed, and Laos smiled. The smile fell as another thought crossed his mind.

"They don't… Torture us, do they?" he asked.

"Not us," Tibet said. "I think they mentally torture some of the others, but I haven't heard any other screams except for yesterday."

"They didn't tell us what happened," Hong Kong said.

"But the only time we see them is when they bring us food," Tibet said. "And don't worry. They're mindful to vegetarians."

Hearing that he wouldn't be tortured, Laos relaxed, before turning to the bed.

"So," he said, "are the three of us supposed to sleep in the same bed now or what?"

…

Michoacán sighed, glancing at America. He still seemed to be bothered about what Molossia had said, and the fact that he had been useless when it came to saving someone completely under Amodi's control.

He was the nation, not her. _He_ had the power and influence and contacts. And while she was pretty smart, she didn't know what to do.

Except…

"Come on," she said. "We still have a job to do, remember?"

America looked at her, blinking his eyes in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"We need to get everyone to safety, remember?" she said.

"You saw what happened to Madagascar…"

"But it won't happen to nations that _haven't_ been enslaved yet! They need to get to a safe place _before_ Amodi can get to them."

America blinked before he grinned.

"You're right," he said. "We can't save those captured yet, but we _can_ save the ones they don't have. And we'll figure out how to save the others. Do you know why? 'Cause I'm the hero!"

"I think you mean 'we'," Michoacán corrected. "And you're right. We'll save them, and Amodi won't be able to add more members. So, where should we start?"

"What's the closest right now?"

"The Middle Eastern nations."

"Aw, man. Those guys hate me."

"Then I suggest you get them out of danger so that they could _stop_ hating you. They wouldn't want to be oppressed or killed by Amodi, which means they'd be willing to go along with you to prevent that from happening."

"Fine. Which one first?"

"Yemen is the closest."

"OK. Let's go there."

…

After having disposed of Iran, Egypt had moved over to Iraq. Although, he had to admit, the other was making things difficult. Apparently Turkey and the others had sent out a warning that he would be coming for them.

But he had to admire the modern world and its need to stay in touch. All it took was a phone call to get North to track down Iraq through his cell phone. Apparently, Iraq had a bunker or something near An Najaf.

But that didn't matter to Egypt as he stared at the other's wide, frightened eyes. It had been easy to break his arms and legs, so now the other couldn't fight back. Now, Egypt could play with him as much as he wanted to.

"So, Iraq," Egypt said, "no one's going to save you. That means that I can play with you as long as I want, until you're nothing more than a broken toy. And a toy is all you are to me at this stage. This could go on for hours, days, weeks… How does that sound?"

Iraq didn't answer, though he started trembling. Egypt smiled.

"Now, shall we get started?" Egypt asked.

…

Aruba cried out in pain as Argentina dug her foot into his back. She smirked, enjoying his pain.

"It's too bad I can't kill you," she said. "But I am to take you to home base. You're going to help us deal with Netherlands."

"Nee!" he shouted, struggling under her.

She smirked.

"Glad to see you've gained a second wind," she said. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're going to be used against your _papa_."

"Please," he sobbed. "Don't do this."

"You know, I should probably get Sint Maarten and Curaçao too," she said, ignoring him. "That way, I don't have to make any return trips, and I can go back to killing everyone. Be glad Italy wants you alive."

She removed her foot, before she bent down and grabbed a fistful of his hair. She pulled him into a standing position, and he screamed in pain.

"Come on," she said. "The sooner I get everyone, the sooner I can drop you…"

She paused when her phone rang and she sighed, taking out the infernal device. Aruba tried to free his hair, but she had an iron grip, and it would seem he was touchy.

"Yeah?" she said by way of greeting. She listened for a while. "Understood."

She hung up the phone before turning to face Aruba.

"It looks like I'm supposed to take you to Sicily," she said. "Lucky you get to lounge around in the sun."

"Please," he said. "Could you let go of my hair?"

She released his hair before gripping him around the upper arm. He gasped in pain.

"Stop whining, you big baby," she said. "Come on. I need a fix as soon as possible."

"Drugs?" he asked.

"No. Human flesh."

He whimpered, and she smirked. It was certainly entertaining to see their reactions upon learning of her true nature.

…

China was feeling just a little irked as he drove the car to their new location.

Netherlands was sitting in the passenger seat, thankfully not smoking his pipe, though he often reached for it, only to be scolded by China. The others were all crammed in the backseat, and Taiwan had complained about how cramped it was but had silenced herself a while back.

No one spoke, and _that_ was what irked China.

Taiwan was usually pretty talkative, and Thailand could be pretty chatty as well, especially when confronted with an uncomfortable silence, like the one they found themselves in. Vietnam, Japan and Netherlands were all quiet by nature.

The quiet was disturbing.

"Aiya!" he exclaimed. "Could someone _please_ say something, before this drives me crazy?"

"Aruba," Netherlands said.

"Okay, _that_ was random."

"He's one of my extended territories, over in the Caribbean. I can sense him. He's under attack."

China glanced over towards Netherlands, and he saw the other's jaw twitching, absentmindedly reaching for his pipe again. China immediately understood it to be a nervous habit.

"Is he…?" Taiwan asked.

Netherlands was quiet for a while, before he sighed in relief.

"Nee," he said. "He's not dead. He's just… it looks like they captured him."

"Like they did with Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau," China said.

"Um," Taiwan said, "I know they captured them to get to you, teacher, but… why didn't they come after _me_? Despite my best efforts, I'm still a part of you."

"I don't know," China said. "Just be glad they didn't."

"What do you think they're doing to them?"

"I don't know. But I _do_ know that they're not hurting them. I would have felt it."

"Are they even still alive?" Vietnam asked.

"Yes," China said. "I can still feel them."

Netherlands sighed, staring out the window.

"Many of our families are dragged into it," Netherlands said. "All we can do is hope that they'd make it out alright."

…

"I think it's about time," Poland said.

Italy grinned.

"Marcello would appreciate it," Italy said.

…

Israel glared at the door to White's room. He didn't like the fact that Indonesia was inside with White. He also couldn't get closer to her with Indonesia there.

He didn't acknowledge when Italy came to stand next to him, a small smirk on his face.

"He'll be leaving soon," Italy said, his voice low. "Though I'd advise you to wait a while before you go talk to her again."

"Why did you have to put him in the same room as her?" Israel asked, his voice also low.

"In order to get him to be a little more Dutch again," Italy explained. "And who better than another former Dutch colony? At most, they'd be nothing more than siblings to each other."

Israel glared at the door, not completely satisfied.

"Hey, I know what could cheer you up," Italy said.

Israel glanced towards Italy to show that he was listening.

"Egypt reported that Saudi Arabia and Iran are dead, and Iraq is next," Italy said.

Israel smirked. Indeed, it _did_ make him feel better.

"I'll give them ten more minutes," Italy said. "And then Indonesia will be shipped off. I suggest you aren't around when I go in."

Israel sighed, before he turned to leave. Thinking about it, he supposed he could fix a little snack. White had taught him a few of her recipes. And he could always make one of his own.

…

Poland went down to the basement. He smirked when he saw the two German brothers, who glared at him. He was particularly focused on Prussia.

"I have a little job for you," Poland said.

"Go to hell," Prussia said.

"Sorry to hear that," Poland said, pulling out a gun, which he pointed to Germany's head.

"You arschloch!" Prussia said. "Fine. What is it?"

"I want you to help us with France and Austria."

"Nein."

Poland cocked the gun, and it was comical to see the fear in Prussia's eyes.

"Alright!" he said. "What do you want?"

Poland smirked, removing a cell phone.

"You're going to make a call," Poland said.

…

Canada was staring at a map of America. His attack on Las Vegas had gone very well, and now he needed to shift his attention somewhere else.

His eyes landed on a suitable city and he smirked. There were many Canadians there. Perhaps he should call Italy and Romano to lend him a hand. It was a lot trickier the farther away they were from their targets, but it would still be a huge help. And he was sure the Koreas wouldn't mind helping him as well.

…

France was staring at a map of Europe, then his phone, and so it went, back and forth.

He had tried to call England and his family, but none of the calls could go through. He had also tried a few other numbers he knew in the United Kingdom, but none of them went through either. And when he checked the news, he sighed in slight relief when it was announced that phones were out, and they were still trying to find out what the cause of it was. No sign of the government surrendering or anything, so that would mean that England hadn't been captured or killed.

They were just… isolated.

He sighed, trying to figure out who the next targets would be and jumped when his phone rang. He cursed under his breath, before he took the device. The number was not something that he recognised, so he would have to be careful.

"Hello?" he said.

"Franny!"

His heart leapt when he heard his friend's hushed voice.

"Gilbert, is that you?" France asked.

"Who else could it be but my awesome self? Listen, I don't have a lot of time. I managed to slip out and find a phone, but they could come back at any minute."

"D'accord, je comprends."

"Speak English or something."

"I was just saying that I understand. Where are you?"

"Italy's house in Rome. They're using it as a base of operations."

"Alright. Who else is there?"

"On whose side?"

"It doesn't matter. Just tell me who else is there."

"West is with me, and I think I saw Hong Kong, Tibet and Macau. Then I think I heard something about Portugal. And Italy, Romano and Poland and definitely here. Egypt was here, but I don't know if he still is. It's been a while since I saw him."

"Only those three?"

"They're the only ones that I've seen."

"Merci. We'll try to get there as soon as possible."

"Danke. Scheisse, I think I hear someone coming. Hurry."

Prussia hung up the phone, and France sighed.

At least now he knew where Prussia, Germany and Portugal were. And they could plan accordingly.

He _could_ gather an army, but that would take too long. Prussia was alright for _now_ , but it could change within a moment's notice. And Italy would see an army approaching.

And besides, Prussia said nothing about there being any soldiers there.

But it could still be a trap. And they had no other clues.

Although, he knew a few tricks as well.

France sighed, before he decided to go find the others. Perhaps it would be a good idea to hear their opinions on the matter.

…

Poland smirked as he pulled the phone away from Prussia. The latter was glaring, tears of hate filling his eyes.

"Bastard," Prussia said.

Poland removed the gun from Germany's temple, and the taller nation sighed in relief.

"We'll bring you his head when we're finished," Poland said. "Austria's too. And then we'll move on to Hungary."

"Arschloch," Prussia said.

Poland chuckled as he left the basement. If he wasn't mistaken, the partitions of Germany were nearly complete. Combined with the newest development regarding France…

Well, they wouldn't be needing the German brothers for much longer.

…

Kugelmugel cackled as he hung up the phone. Finally, it was time!

He could feel the excitement rolling off of him in waves. Soon, he would no longer be a micronation anymore. He would be a full-fledged nation.

And Austria's land would be completely his.

 **In Afrikaans, we have a word,** _ **kleinserig**_ **. I think it's one of those hard to translate words, because the closest I could find was 'touchy', which doesn't do it justice. Basically, it means that you're very sensitive to pain. The most common form is at the scalp, and if you're brushing your hair, the smallest tangle can have you jumping about half a meter into the air. And pulling your hair is also a no-no. Basically, when I said Aruba was apparently touchy, I meant** _ **this**_ **. The word itself could be broken up and literally translated as 'small/little hurt.' Other translations include 'babyish', 'sensitive', 'delicate' and 'easily hurt'. But again, it doesn't quite do the word justice.**


	35. Chapter 34

**Thanks to Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, Terra, pastaaddict, ele22, KathWood67, Eduayn15 and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 34**

White and Indonesia had been speaking to each other in Afrikaans and Dutch, respectively. For both of them, it was a huge relief to have someone who they could speak with, especially in enemy territory. Naturally, the two of them spoke very slowly in order to make sure that the two could indeed understand each other.

The door opened and they stopped, staring at it with wide eyes. Italy stood there, smirking lazily at the two of them.

"It's time for you to leave, Indonesia," Italy said. "You'll keep the Portuguese nations happy, won't you?"

"Leave us alone!" White yelled, standing in front of Indonesia. "Just leave us alone."

"Isn't that cute?" Italy taunted. "But if you keep going on like that, I'll have to reconsider letting you go home."

"What?" she whispered.

"Well, now that Black South Africa is dead, we don't really have much of a reason to keep you here anymore. So we were thinking of letting you go back to your own country. However, if you try to give us any problems, then we'll keep you here, longer and longer, and I won't even let your little friend visit you anymore."

"Zuid-Afrika," Indonesia said, catching her attention, "don't do anything that would get you in trouble. Like he said, I won't be alone."

She still looked hesitant, but she sat down on the bed, and Indonesia stood. He went towards the door and waved to her one final time, before Italy pulled him out and closed the door behind them.

…

"It's a trap," Monaco said firmly.

France had told the others about the phone call with Prussia, and that was the immediate reaction. France sighed.

"I am aware," he said. "But if we could free some of their prisoners, then…"

"And what about what happened to Madagascar?" Belgium asked. "Can we really afford it?"

"Merde, I forgot about that."

"So what are we going to do then?" Austria asked. "Gilbert will be expecting us to rescue him. If we don't come…"

"He'll think we've abandoned him," France sighed. "What can we do?"

"Perhaps we should still go," Luxembourg said.

Everyone turned to him.

"You suggest that we walk into a trap?" Monaco asked.

"Yes," Luxembourg said. "Or at least France does."

"What are you thinking, mon ami?" France asked, intrigued.

"Prussia called _France_ , right? And if Amodi knew about it… Okay, let me explain it carefully. This is how I see it: there are two possibilities of Prussia calling. The first is that he really _did_ manage to break free and find a phone. In which case, Amodi would have to know by torturing him. The second possibility is that someone in Amodi put him up to calling France. Meaning that they _know_ that France might be coming."

"They would have chosen France because he and Prussia are friends," Belgium said.

"But why go through all that trouble?" France asked. "Unless…."

"Unless they really don't know where we are," Monaco said. "And thus they can't attack."

"So they're hoping to lure France and anyone with his group," Austria said. "Are we really going to fall for that?"

"We're not," France said. "And… if Amodi set this as a trap, why?"

"What do you mean?" Belgium asked. "You know why…"

"He has a point," Monaco said. "Didn't America say that there was a micronation with them who turned out to be part of their group?"

"Oui," France said, smiling slightly.

"And after fleeing, where would he go?"

"To allies," Luxembourg said, eyes widening in realisation.

"Which means that they know that we know what happens if we take a nation away from them. So, if they knew that we know…"

"Why go through with the trap?" Austria finished.

"Amodi is smart. They don't allow oversights."

"You're right," France said. "But what are the odds that they told their prisoners?"

"They wouldn't," Belgium said. "Unless they were important prisoners. The ones that they don't want to be killed."

"I don't know whether or not they're lucky or unlucky," Luxembourg sighed.

"So Prussia wouldn't know," France continued. "And there's no way to contact him now."

"So are we going just to tell him that we can't save him?" Austria asked.

"No. I was thinking about going for another reason. We know where one of their bases is."

It took a moment for the others to absorb the information and realise exactly what France was saying.

"You want to go on the offensive," Monaco said.

"Exactly," France said. "And perhaps I can get rid of that silly stereotype of me surrendering all the time."

"This is foolish," Austria said. "We don't know how many of them there are."

"We know that Italy and Poland are there," France said. "And Prussia also said something about Egypt. But it wouldn't matter. If we could free the prisoners…"

"We gain a few other nations to help us," Belgium finished. "And if the number of prisoners outnumber the number of Amodi members…"

"An advantage," France said. "And even if that isn't enough, then we could threaten one of them. After all, Italy is not the only way who was educated in ways to kill nations."

"You know of a way then?" Monaco asked.

"Mais oui. And we know about their Bonds. If North Korea is there, we can threaten Belarus. And I suspect that Italy and Poland are connected to each other. If we threaten one of them, we're far more likely to get results."

"It probably helps that they're the leaders, right?" Luxembourg asked.

"It's a bonus for us," France said.

"So we go in the hopes of threatening one of them," Austria said, eyes narrowed. "And what would you suggest we do once they're threatened?"

"Demand that they tell us what method they're using to keep the nations from leaving them," France said. "If I know the method, then perhaps I can think of a solution."

"It's still dangerous," Monaco said.

"I agree. But it's better than waiting around for them to come kill us anyway. And… Perhaps we can kill one of them."

"Go down fighting," Luxembourg sighed. "They're going to kill us anyway, so we might as well die doing something important."

"Very well," Austria sighed. "Then I suppose I'll come as well."

"I think we're _all_ coming," Belgium said, looking at Luxembourg. "Right?"

"Of course," Luxembourg said.

"I'll go, on one condition," Monaco said. "We have one of our phones on speaker while we call either Russia, America, Turkey or China."

"Why?" France asked.

"Because they're pretty chatty, aren't they? Even North Korea, who _knew_ that he would be rescued, wasn't shy about taunting us. If they could find out…"

"Perhaps it's a good idea," France said. "We'll just tell them to mute their side, so that they don't get too suspicious."

…

North Korea had managed to hack into France's cell phone, thanks to the little call Prussia had made to it. He could not only listen to France's conversations while making calls, but also when he was speaking to the others with him.

He looked up when Belarus entered, carrying some ice cream. He smiled at the sight. His tongue was starting to grow back and itched like crazy, and so having something to numb it would be very helpful.

"Here you go," Belarus said. "Found anything?"

He nodded.

"Do you want me to get Italy or Poland?"

Another nod.

She smiled before she left, and North looked at the screen in front of him again.

…

The drive in the car was silent. Slovakia fidgeted nervously, not enjoying the silence at all. It made things worse.

"There's something I don't quite get," Slovakia said, deciding to break the silence. "Amodi _can_ take us all out in one fell swoop. So why don't they?"

"Because they're playing," Russia said.

"Playing?" Czech repeated.

"Da. It is like a game of cat and mouse to them. They know that they can kill us at any time. We know that they can kill us at any time. But they're waiting. They want to see our feeble attempts to stop them. They want to see how desperate they can make us. And only when they get bored do they move in to kill us."

It was silent for a moment as everyone pondered his words.

"Something tells me you've put way too much thought into this," Czech said.

"I may have done it once or twice," Russia said, smiling.

Czech and Slovakia exchanged nervous looks, before Czech reached over to smack him.

"Ow! What was that for?" Slovakia demanded.

" _You're_ the one that brought it up!" Czech scolded.

"Okay, I'm sorry!"

"Chekhiya," Russia said, interrupting the siblings, "did anyone contact you, other than me?"

"What?" Czech asked, surprised. "Why do you ask that?"

"Did someone?"

"…Yes. Liechtenstein."

"And what did she say?"

"She knew that we were going to you."

"And how much of that was taunting?"

"I wouldn't say it was _taunting_ , but… It was disturbing."

"Cat and mouse."

"Oh. I see…"

"Ivan," Ukraine said, "is there some way we can avoid them, or buy ourselves some time?"

"Hope that they don't know our exact locations," Russia said. "And pray that we get lucky. They've done a lot of planning, but all it would take for their plans to fail – or at least to be delayed – is for just one of us to get lucky just once."

"Is that what we're relying on?" Slovakia asked. "Luck?"

"Da. For now."

…

Yemen was pacing nervously. Cyprus had called him in order to warn him to go into hiding, and that Saudi Arabia and Iran had already been killed.

He had gone to a secret location, but he feared that it might not be secret enough. And then there was the fear that the enemy might decide to attack his people in order to get to him. It was a very real fear for nations.

He jumped when his phone rang, and he hesitantly answered it, fearing that it might be one of _them_.

"Yo, Yemen!"

…Never mind. It was worse.

"What do you want, America?" Yemen asked. "And how did you get my number?"

"Mel has a database with contact information for everyone."

"Who? Never mind, it's probably not important. What do you want?"

"Just telling you that we're coming to save you."

"I don't need your 'saving'."

He heard America say something to someone on the other end, and he was sure he heard the phone being passed on.

"Hello, Yemen is it?" another person asked.

"Yes," he said. "And who's this?"

"I'm Michoacán, a state of Mexico who's currently working on separating from the mainland."

"Well, good for you. But what do you want?"

"We're going to get you away from Amodi, before they attack you."

"I don't need your help."

"Let me put it this way: Amodi doesn't care about neutrality. They have done a lot of things that aren't normal for even a war. They don't fight the way nations have been fighting for centuries – millennia, actually. They will find you and they will kill you. And the odds are that they have some of their people in your country. They can control anyone whose ancestry once belonged to their country. How many of them do you think there are?"

Yemen paused. There might be a few.

"If you come with us, then we can get you to a safe location. If you stay where you are, then they will find and kill you. We're not saying that you should fight with us. But just allow us to get you to a safe location, where you will be with other nations. It would be better to fight them in a group than to fight them alone."

Yemen thought about it. She had a point.

"What is the true reason?" he asked. "I mean, I know America. He wouldn't do this because he cares about me or anything. He mostly does things for his own glory."

"You might be right. But think of it this way: would you want to prevent Amodi from getting more land? And resources?"

"Alright, so this is about preventing the enemy from gaining more land. And if they just decide to conquer my country?"

"You haven't been listening. They don't fight in this war like nations have been fighting for thousands of years. They search for the personifications, and either they capture or kill them. Out of the nations they've conquered, how many of their cities were attacked?"

Yemen thought about it. It was true. Compared to what happened in the last World War, there wasn't nearly as much bloodshed from humans. Except for the ten percent of the population that died with their nation.

"Why would they do something like that, though?" he asked.

"Resources. They don't want to waste resources. Soldiers, weapons, money…"

"I see. That makes sense. Alright then. If you can find me, then I'll go with you."

"You're somewhere between Zamakh and Al Hajar."

He felt his stomach drop. How did she know?

"I'm a state," she said. "I have limited resources. If _I_ can figure it out, what's stopping _them_ from finding out?"

"…Fine. How far away are you?"

"We'll be there in a few hours."

"Then I'll be waiting for you."

He hung up the phone and sighed in frustration. Great. Now he was relying on America to save him. But he had to appreciate the fact that they warned him. If America had just showed up…

He would not have been happy.

He also had to commend Michoacán for her powers of persuasion.

…

Michoacán handed the phone back to America with a smirk on her face, and America was looking at her wide-eyed.

"How'd you do that?" he asked.

"I know how to handle people," she said simply.

…

Italy smirked when he heard Canada's idea.

"That sounds perfect," Italy said. "Of course, you'll have a lot of help from us. And I'm sure the Koreans would be happy to assist as well."

"When should we do this?" Canada asked.

"You're the one in charge. You tell me."

"Alright then. What about midnight New York time?"

"That sounds just a little impractical. We want to make a statement, don't we?"

"We also don't want the humans to be able to fight back. And have you _seen_ the place at all?"

"Fair point. Alright. Midnight it is."

Italy hung up the phone, feeling very smug. This would certainly be one harsh blow for America. It was perfect.

…

"When are they coming already?" Kugelmugel huffed.

Seborga sighed, lounging on a couch. He turned to regard the younger micronation.

"Patience," he said. "That is the art of warfare. Patience."

"I've waited long enough," Kugelmugel said, rounding on the other. "Haven't you?"

"Of course I have. But I know that if we rush, we would fail. And if they're near, we would know."

"Can't we rush them?" Kugelmugel asked.

"No. Thanks to Molossia, they know we're on Amodi's side, and if we contact them in any way, they will grow suspicious. We just need to wait calmly and patiently."

Kugelmugel huffed before he slumped in an armchair.

"Ladonia's been rubbing it in," Kugelmugel said.

"Soon, it won't matter. If they didn't know about us, then we would have been nations by now. But since they know, they're suspicious and cautious. Ladonia had the element of surprise on his side. That is all, and he should remember that."

Kugelmugel smirked, and the two settled down for a long wait.

…

"Here we are," Romano said. "You're allowed to go outside, but you can't leave the yard. Understood?"

The Portuguese-speaking nations and Indonesia didn't answer as they stared at the 'house'. It couldn't really be considered a 'house'. A large manor or a small castle, perhaps.

India smirked as he went to stand beside Romano, who smirked as well.

"You'll have plenty of time to admire the Sicilian architecture," Romano said, snapping them out of their stupor. "But for now, you need to get a room for each of you. You have a curfew of ten o' clock each night."

The prisoners hesitated, before they scattered, searching for a room before they found out what would happen if they broke curfew. All except for Portugal, who stared at Romano suspiciously.

"How did you manage to keep this place?" Portugal asked. "We've all had to surrender our riches, including our castles. So how did _you_ hold onto this?"

Romano smirked.

"I control the mafia," Romano said. "They made sure that no one, whether they're foreign soldiers, the government or even my own people, could touch this place."

"And why are you giving us free reign?" Portugal asked. "You should know that we would try to escape."

"Oh, feel free to try," Romano said, smirking. "You'll die as soon as you do."

"Your mafia keeping an eye on this place?"

"Yes, but we also have magic in place that will kill you as soon as you're out of our possession. The same happened to Madagascar earlier today."

Portugal's eyes widened, before he lowered his head, rushing off to do what the younger nations were doing as well.

"Maybe we shouldn't have told him," India said. "It would have been more entertaining to see them discover it for themselves."

"But we might lose a valuable prisoner if we did that," Romano said. "They can consider this their last warning."

…

Philippines was bored. Confederacy and Mexico could stir up trouble in America, but she could do nothing at this point in time. It was so _frustrating_.

She was lying upside-down on a couch, but when she saw Mexico entering the room with a phone in hand, she quickly turned right-side up.

"Italy wishes to speak to you," Mexico said.

Philippines took the phone, and Mexico left the room.

"Hello?" she said.

"Philippines, you don't have anything to do, right?" Italy said.

"Nope. Why, is it about to change?"

"Si. How do you feel about a massacre?"

She smiled.

"Keep talking," she said.

 **And for those wondering why Indonesia was speaking Dutch again… Heh, it would be revealed soon enough. I know it's not the official language, but there's a plan behind it.**

 **And it** _ **is**_ **possible for someone speaking Afrikaans and another person speaking Dutch to understand each other. It sometimes takes a while for the two to be able to tell the differences between the languages, and it's best if they don't speak too fast. I've actually been able to see this in practice, with me having conversations in Afrikaans while the other is speaking Dutch. But the person I spoke with said that she suspects it's easier for me to understand Dutch than it was for her to understand Afrikaans. And it's best not to be a grammar Nazi when reading each other's languages, because otherwise, you're going to have a bad time.**


	36. Chapter 35

**Thanks to Time Turner, Space Trooper, Skye Phoenix Dove, Terra, reddishpirate0614, flyneza, yanrulim, pastaaddict, topaz3 and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 35**

Yemen jumped when there was a knock on the door. His bunker was isolated and well hidden. Who could be there?

"Yo, the heroes have arrived!"

Of course. America.

Yemen considered not opening the door. Chances were that America would think that he wasn't home. Then again, there was the possibility that America would try to break down the door because he thought that his silence would mean that Amodi had gotten to him.

It was the fear of the second one realising that forced Yemen to go towards the door. Undoing all the locks took a while, but eventually he managed to get the door open, only to see America's smug grin. He also noticed that there was a young girl with him who he assumed was Michoacán.

"So, what took you so long?" America asked.

"This is a bunker," Yemen said. "It's supposed to have decent locks."

"Told you that you should have patience," Michoacán sighed.

"How did you find my precise location?" Yemen asked.

"Oh, I had the CIA and the NSA track you through your phone," America said.

"…I don't appreciate that."

"Let's get out of here," Michoacán said. "We should probably get Saudi Arabia out of the line of fire next."

"Saudi is dead," Yemen said.

"What?" Michoacán asked. "Who else?"

"I only know about Iran, but I suspect that Iraq is also dead," Yemen said. "I can't reach him."

"Damn."

"Where to next?" America asked, looking between the two.

"I think Oman," Michoacán said.

"That is a good idea," Yemen said.

"Okay. So let's…" America started, before he froze.

Yemen and Michoacán watched as America gasped for breath. Yemen's eyes widened, and he quickly dragged America inside, Michoacán following.

"I thought you said they don't attack the country?" Yemen asked.

"America seems to be the exception," Michoacán said. "I think it's because Canada and Mexico are handling that. They want to hurt America as much as possible."

Yemen watched America closely as he tried to regain his breath. He wondered if they were right when they said that they would only get him to a safe location. Because if they intended to force him to fight, then he knew that he would be doomed.

"You said that you would just get me to a safe location," Yemen said. "Where exactly would _that_ be?"

"We have yet to decide," Michoacán said. "But I don't think America is really safe, and my own land is out of the question. And I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go to a country that hasn't been conquered yet, since it's only a matter of time before they decide to go there."

"And going to a country that's already been killed or captured is out of the question," Yemen sighed. "Proceeding without a plan…"

"For now, we're travelling. We're staying on the move."

"It's harder for them to get us then," Yemen said in realisation.

"We'll sort out a safe location in due time," Michoacán said.

They turned their attentions back to America once they realised that his breathing had become easier, though he still looked to be in pain.

"What did they attack?" Michoacán asked.

"New York City," America said. "I forgot about Little Italy. And there are quite a few Canadians and Koreans."

"It _is_ a major city."

"So," Yemen said. "Oman? I'll call to let him know we're coming."

"Thanks," America said.

…

Turkey and his group arrived at his house in Istanbul. Everyone was a little tense. Once they got out of the car, a small figure ran up to them.

"North," Cyprus said as his brother threw his arms around him.

"Nice to see you, kid," Turkey said, placing his hand on TRNC's head. "Let's get breakfast before we go look for Egypt."

"He's probably out of Iran by now," Hungary sighed. "Where should we go then?"

"I'll see if I can get in touch with Syria," Turkey said. "He's good at being hard to find. I'm sure even Egypt will have trouble getting to him."

"Are you _trying_ to make this hell?" Greece asked.

"I don't like this any more than you do, but we have no choice."

…

Poland stared at the map, a thoughtful frown on his face. Italy entered the room, throwing his arms around Poland's shoulders.

"What's on your mind?" Italy asked.

"Central Asia," Poland said. "There's not much going on there."

"Do you want to start?"

"Tak. Once France and his group are taken care of. I want to personally handle Mongolia."

Italy smiled, before he kissed Poland's neck. Poland smiled as well.

A throat was cleared, and the two rolled their eyes, before they turned around to see San Marino standing at the door.

"France's group is on the move," San Marino said.

"Grazie," Italy said. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Poland nodded, and the two left, anticipation for victory in their eyes.

…

"I'm worried about Will," Northern Ireland sighed.

Ireland looked up from the book he was reading to regard his brother.

"Why?" he asked.

"He's been sleeping the whole day yesterday," North explained. "The pills couldn't be _that_ powerful."

Ireland was about to answer when he saw New Zealand entering the room, looking a bit tired, but also frustrated.

"Breakfast will be ready in a bit," New Zealand said. "And someone needs to get groceries. This place is seriously lacking."

"Well, you know what we're like when it comes to food," Ireland said, smiling sheepishly.

New Zealand huffed.

"And you're leaving Oz and me to handle the cooking," New Zealand said.

"Hey, we're keeping Artie out of the kitchen," North said. "Be grateful."

"Yeah," Ireland said. "At least the rest of us know that we suck at cooking."

New Zealand sighed.

"Could you tell the others that we'd be eating in just a little bit?" New Zealand asked.

"Sure," Northern Ireland said, standing from his seat at the couch.

New Zealand turned around, going back to the kitchen.

"I know he's evil and all," New Zealand muttered, "but I miss his cooking. At least he's _good_ at it."

The two Irelands heard the other's muttering and smiled, before those smiles fell. It was a harsh reminder that someone they had considered as family hated them and wished for their destruction.

"I'll go get Will," Ireland said. "You can wake Alistair and Art."

"Aw," Northern Ireland whined. "Why do you hate me?"

Ireland chuckled, before the brothers separated to retrieve their other brothers. Ireland kept his smile as he walked into Wales's room.

The smile fell, however, when he saw Wales.

The Welshman was getting dressed and was currently shirtless, his back facing the Irishman. Ireland could see the bruises from Amodi's attack, but he also saw scars that looked red and angry. These were old scars, and he could even recognise one of them as a wound that England had inflicted after Harlech Castle fell to England in 1409. The wound was inflicted as punishment for Wales trying to break free.

Wales was looking at Ireland over his shoulder with wide eyes. Ireland snapped out of his stupor and walked closer.

"What happened?" Ireland asked, placing his hand near one of the angry scars.

Wales hissed and flinched, and Ireland retracted his hand.

"How long has this been going on?" Ireland asked.

"A-after the attack," Wales muttered.

"What did they do?"

"I don't know. Leave it, okay?"

Wales grabbed a shirt and quickly pulled it on, before rounding on Ireland.

"Is there something you want?" Wales asked.

Ireland felt a twinge of fear. He had never seen Wales like this. Wales was always the gentle one… Though when he was abruptly awoken he reminded them why the dragon was the national animal of Wales. Ireland could feel cold rage coming from his brother.

"B-breakfast," Ireland said. "It's almost ready."

Wales nodded his head, and Ireland could feel some of the rage dying from the other. He swallowed nervously.

"Will, is something wrong?" Ireland asked.

"Nothing," Wales said. "It just hurts."

Ireland nodded in understanding. Looking at the bruises from the attack, he could imagine that it would hurt. But what could cause _that_ to happen to the scars?

Wales sighed, running his hand through his hair before he fixed Ireland with a gentle look. Ireland breathed easy as he saw the familiar expression on his brother's face.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell the others," Wales said. "I don't want them to worry."

Ireland nodded his head, and Wales smiled, before he left the room. Ireland hesitated for a moment, before he left as well, making a mental note to keep an eye on Wales. And if what he saw got worse, then he didn't care if he was betraying Wales's trust. The others would need to know.

…

Hutt River was lurking near Wales's room, and he smirked as he listened to the exchange between the two brothers. He knew exactly what was happening.

The Bonds of Hate were particularly vicious, even to those that they bound. They sought out someone with hatred in their hearts, no matter how buried it might be. Any grudge would do. Then it increased the amount of hate, based on the hatred in the hearts of the ones previously bound. And the hate spread between everyone bound by it. And if one of them didn't have enough hate, the Bonds would do anything to get it to an acceptable level: manipulation of emotions, flashbacks to the bad times to remind the nation why the hatred existed, and if there were physical wounds the healing process would be reversed.

That was what was happening to Wales.

Wales's love for his brothers was being smothered by the Black Ribbon. Any guilt he might feel for the inevitable betrayal was drowned by memories of the brothers' relationship at their worst.

But carrying a grudge… it was not in Wales's nature. Hutt River wondered what would happen once Wales was allowed to act on his hatred. What would happen once Wales crossed the final line?

Wales was a wildcard at the moment. He didn't have the Bonds of Love or Desire to balance out the Bonds of Hate. And perhaps having someone like that on their side would be a good thing. He couldn't betray them, and he wouldn't think twice about killing someone.

Hutt River had to keep himself from chuckling. Italy would certainly be happy to hear about this.

…

"Here we are," Russia said, stopping in front of what looked like a run-down shack.

Czech and Slovakia looked at it incredulously, before turning to Russia.

"You've _got_ to be kidding," Czech said.

Russia merely smiled, before he got out of the car. Ukraine, Czech, Slovakia and Vilnius hesitated before they followed after him.

"Ivan?" Ukraine asked.

Russia held out a hand, his smile still in place. He led them to the shack, and once he opened the door, they saw that there was absolutely nothing inside, save for a rug.

"You can't be serious," Czech said.

Even Vilnius was looking doubtful as they watched Russia going to the centre of the room, before he pulled the rug aside, revealing a trapdoor.

"That's starting to look promising," Slovakia said.

They followed Russia as he went down, only to be met with total darkness, but not for long. Russia pulled a lever, and the other four gasped when the lights were turned on.

It was a bunker, with glistening silver walls and bright lighting. In spite of its appearance, it didn't feel cold at all, and they wondered if there was a fire burning somewhere inside. They followed Russia as he led the way further inside.

"Ivan," Ukraine whispered, "what is this place?"

"It is a bunker, of course," Russia said. "It was originally built during the Cold War, and it was designed so that America wouldn't be able to find this place. It cannot be discovered via satellite. It is also safe from most nuclear weapons. In recent years, I've been using it to hide from Belarus. This place is where I go to get some work done. You are the first nations to step foot in this place, other than me, of course."

"Why is it so _clean_?" Czech asked.

"Some of the old KGB members and their families come in twice a month to clean this place, stock it up with food and other supplies, and to make sure that everything still works."

"Can those humans be trusted?" Ukraine asked.

"Da. I was paranoid back then, and only those with Russian ancestry that extends at least ten generations were allowed to be part of the design and maintenance of this place. As you can imagine, there aren't too many of them."

"Why is ancestry so important?" Slovakia asked.

"Because Amodi can control their people, even if they live in another country and were born there," Ukraine said. "According to France, it works up to five generations."

Czech and Slovakia shuddered, and Vilnius looked at the ground. Ukraine sighed, and Russia had grown sombre.

"Feel free to explore," Russia said. "You can pick any room you want. This place was built to house every nation in the Soviet Union in case of emergency, as well as two dozen soldiers. I will call the Balkans later to see if they would be willing to join us."

"I thought this place was a bunker for _you_?" Czech asked.

"I didn't want to be alone."

…

Argentina was humming a jaunty tune as she walked the streets of Sint Maarten, searching for the nation himself. She had already been to his house, but he was nowhere to be seen. So he was somewhere among his people.

Argentina noticed something out of the corner of her eye and she turned to face it, smirking. A young man was moving away from her, in quite a hurry. Seeing the spiky blond hair, she had a feeling she knew who it might be.

She followed after him, and knew that she was right in her assumption when the other started running. She gave chase, and she felt her smirk transforming into a grin as the other rounded a corner and she saw that he was indeed the one that she was looking for. She picked up speed, and he wasn't nearly as fast as she was.

She tackled him to the ground, and she growled as he struggled, screaming for help.

"Shut up," she snarled, slamming his face into the pavement.

The scent of blood immediately reached her nose, and she saw that his own had been broken. But she had other problems to worry about.

The people had noticed that something was wrong, and were moving in to stop her. She needed to get them away.

She quickly reached into her pocket for her phone and pressed something, just as the first hands started pulling her off. But it was enough.

A nearby building blew up, and the people panicked, completely forgetting about her as they scrambled to get away. Sint Maarten had stopped struggling and had grown silent, staring at the building as it burst into flames.

Argentina tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before she leaned down in order to speak to Sint Maarten.

"This is what happens when you try to fight," Argentina whispered. "Or run. Tell me, how many people were in there?"

Sint Maarten whimpered and started trembling, and she could only assume that there were quite a few people. But she wanted to hear him admit it.

"Well?" she prompted.

Sint Maarten whimpered again and took a deep breath through his mouth.

"It was an orphanage," he said. "All those children…"

"Oh, is that all?" Argentina asked, grin widening.

She derived pleasure out of his anguish, and she could feel her pleasure growing when she saw his face twist as the first tears started to fall.

Her pleasure was cut short when she heard the sounds of sirens, and she sighed as she pulled him to his feet.

"Come on, you big baby," she said as she started dragging him along. "I'm not going to kill you. Unfortunately. I just need to take you somewhere. Don't worry, you won't be alone. Aruba's already on the plane, and Caraçao will be joining us soon enough."

He whimpered again, but this time she didn't pay it any mind. She was starting to hate the humans of Sint Maarten and wanted to get away from the island as soon as possible. She also didn't want to have to deal with the French part of the island. She only wanted the Dutch one, and if she had to deal with the French part at the moment, there was a chance that she might lose Sint Maarten.

And she wanted to get this over with soon, before her craving got to be too bad.

…

Peru drank a glass of wine as he stared at the barely living body of Ecuador. The other's arms and legs were broken in several places, and there were chunks missing from his neck, shoulders and arms. Ecuador's breathing was laboured, and his eyes were hazy as he looked at Peru. His front was completely soaked with blood.

"As entertaining as this is, you're starting to bore me," Peru said, finishing the wine. "So what do you say about me putting you out of your misery?"

Ecuador sighed, before he closed his eyes. Peru walked closer and through one of the lacerations in the other's chest, reached in, searching for the heart. Ecuador whimpered, before Peru wrapped his hand around the organ, pulling it out. He took a bite before he stood, Ecuador's eyes reflecting the light fading.

Peru, Venezuela and Chile had certainly gone wild. The only South Americans still alive, asides from the three of them and Argentina, were Brazil (who was unfortunately off-limits) and Falkland Islands. Peru hoped that it meant they could move to new targets soon.

…

Seborga looked over towards Kugelmugel as the younger micronation jumped up and down, giggling madly.

"I can sense him," Kugelmugel said. "Austria is near, which means the others are close as well."

"Excellent," Italy said, standing from his armchair.

"That means that we could get to work," Poland added.

"Official nation," Kugelmugel said under his breath, smiling insanely, "here I come."

 **New Zealand was muttering about Canada, in case you're wondering.**


	37. Chapter 36

**Thanks to Time Turner, Terra, Bubblegum Royalty, magicflyingmintbunnies, snowgem33, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and Skye Phoenix Dove for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 36**

France sighed, looking towards his companions. They were right outside Italy's Roman house, and it disturbed them to see that there really weren't any guards around. It made them feel even more nervous about what they were doing.

"Who will we call?" Belgium asked, eyes locked on France.

France sighed.

"Well, we can't reach Angleterre," France said. "So I was thinking perhaps Russia or China."

"Russia," Monaco said. "We won't waste time getting scolded by him."

France sighed, nodding his head. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialled the Russian's number.

"Privet, Frantsiya," Russia greeted. "How can I help you?"

"I received a call from Prussia…" France started.

"It's a trap," Russia interrupted.

"I know. But this is a good opportunity. We know where one of their bases is. We're going to try our luck at trying to kill one of them. With those Bonds of theirs… A death would have devastating results."

"…You know that this is a suicide mission, da?"

"Oui. I'm aware. Perhaps I'm like one of Japan's kamikaze pilots."

"Why are you calling me, if I might ask?"

"We're going to see if we can get them talking. Anything that could give us an advantage. I'll keep my phone on speaker, and you just need to mute yours."

"I see. Good luck."

"Merci."

France put his phone on speaker, before placing it in a phone sleeve attached to his belt. This way, it wouldn't hang up and the sound wouldn't be muffled. When that was done, he turned to his companions.

"Let's go then," France said. "Luxembourg, Monaco, I want the two of you to stay outside. If we need to, we'll either tell you to come help us or to run away. There's no need to place the two of you in unnecessary risk."

The two looked as though they were about to protest, but surprisingly it was Austria who halted them.

"The two of you are very small," Austria said. "Even in regular warfare, the two of you wouldn't be able to last long. It's senseless to send you to what might be your doom."

"And you're young," Belgium said. "Young, but strong. We need nations like you."

"Sis…" Luxembourg said.

"Wait for us," France said, smiling. "Either we will have some success, or we will die. You would know regardless."

To everyone's surprise, Monaco rushed forward and hugged France. He was startled for a moment, before he hugged back.

"Try to come back," Monaco said.

"I'll try," France said.

…

On the other side of the line, Russia was listening to the conversation with a small smile on his face. He was glad to know that France knew the risks, and he was also glad to know that he was trying to keep the younger nations out of danger.

He still wasn't sure why he specifically had been called, but he didn't mind. It made him feel appreciated.

…

Turkey sighed, rubbing his temples and phone pressed to his ear. One of the reasons why Syria was so hard to find was because he had at least ten different phone numbers, and he kept changing them, sometimes several times a day. And there was no pattern to his choice.

When Cyprus had called Syria to warn him to be careful, he had been very lucky to get him on the first try. Turkey wasn't.

After the twelfth number (that was what it had come to), the phone was eventually picked up.

"Finally," Turkey said. "Syria, this is Turkey."

There was silence for a moment, then…

"I assumed," Syria said on the other end.

"We need to talk about Egypt," Turkey said.

"Go on."

"We've decided to go on the offensive. Problem is, we don't know where he is. But we know where he's going."

"Me, you mean."

"Yes."

There was silence for a moment.

"Have you tried attacking his country and people?" Syria asked. "That should be easier."

"He's behind all the mosques being burned down in his own country," Turkey said. "Do you think attacking his land and people would stop him? And he's already killed Saudi and Iraq. He's added their lands to his own, I'm assuming."

There was a sigh on the other end.

"He's even more annoying than a certain someone else I have to deal with," Syria said.

Turkey nodded in understanding, not caring that Syria couldn't see it. It was taboo to mention it to Syria, and Syria hated saying his name.

"Alright," Syria said. "I'll help you. When are you coming?"

"We'll leave in about an hour," Turkey said. "Where should we go?"

"Remember the one time in my life I got drunk?"

Turkey grunted. Syria was being careful, and only Turkey knew where the location was. The night he had to take care of a drunk Syria… it was the first time in two hundred years that either of them had mentioned it, and Syria refused to drink alcohol ever since. It was a traumatising night for both of them.

"One more question," Syria said. "This isn't a number I gave you, so how did you get it?"

Not only did Syria have different numbers, he also gave different numbers to different nations. No nation had more than four of his numbers, and no one knew exactly how many numbers he had.

"Greece, Hungary and Cyprus are also here," Turkey said. "By the way, why did you give Hungary seven numbers?"

"Other than Afghanistan, she's the only woman I fear."

"…She hit you with a frying pan when she was angry, didn't she?"

Syria didn't answer, and in the next instant Turkey realised that the other had hung up the phone. He sighed in frustration. Syria wasn't much of a talker, and he didn't like phones, for several reasons.

He pocketed his phone, and went to get something sweet from the kitchen. And afterwards, he would need to tell the others that they would be leaving soon.

…

France, Austria and Belgium made their way into Italy's house, none of them wanting to admit that it was too easy. They already knew that it was a trap. They didn't want to have to put any more thought into it.

"Where would they keep their prisoners?" Belgium whispered.

"Basement," France said. "It's the most logical choice."

"Alright," Austria said. "Does anyone know which door it would be?"

"Oui. Follow me."

France had been to this house before for meetings with Italy. And when the other had gone to the bathroom, France had done some exploring, easily finding the basement. There was nothing of real interest there, just old furniture. It would be a good place to store prisoners.

France led them to the basement door, and they tried the lock. It was open, and it only served to make them even more apprehensive. They shared a nervous look.

"Should we go down there?" Belgium whispered.

"We don't know yet if there are prisoners down there," Austria said. "It's too quiet."

"There aren't prisoners here _at_ _all_."

The three spun around, seeing Italy and Poland standing there, guns held lazily in their hands. Poland was the one who had spoken.

"So this _is_ a trap," France said. "And this isn't your base of operations, is it?"

"Nope," Italy said. "We wouldn't go with a place as obvious as this."

"Are you going to kill us now?" Austria asked.

"Ja," another familiar voice said.

They turned to see Kugelmugel standing to their right, a smirk on his face. Austria narrowed his eyes.

"Why exactly are you with them?" Austria asked. "Was I not a decent father-figure?"

"A _father_ -figure?" Kugelmugel exploded, eyes furious. "You were nothing like that to me! You treated me like a pest. Like something you _need_ to tolerate. The same way England treats Sealand! You act as though you can't wait to get rid of me!"

"Exactly," Italy said darkly. "That's similar to how you treated me. No, wait. You treated me like something you needed to control. Like a servant. And I wasn't that girly! Why did you have to stick me in a dress?! And you enjoyed making me starve!"

"I gave you food," Austria said, "you stole more."

"You even punished me for food that was _given_ to me. How old am I? And how long did I spend as a _child_? All because of _you_."

Austria flinched, and it was Poland's turn to glare at him.

"And let's not forget how you joined Russia and Prussia in partitioning me," Poland said. "Tell me, do you know how painful that could be? Even planned, it still hurts."

"But that's why we worked on disconnecting from our countries," Italy said. "Even if our people and cities are attacked, we feel _nothing_. It doesn't affect us at all. Not anymore."

"So attacking Rome or Warsaw, for example, would prove fruitless," France said.

"Pretty much," Poland said, shrugging.

"Are you the only nations here?" Belgium asked.

"Ladonia arrived earlier today to help out," Kugelmugel said. "And Seborga's here too."

"Both micronations," Austria said.

"Nope. Ladonia's a nation, thanks to the penta-contract."

"What?" France asked.

"How do you think we can take everyone's lands after they've been killed?" Italy asked. "It's a spell that allows land to be transferred to another nation, as long as there are five nations that agree to it. The nations involved don't even need to sign the contract. Before we started this, we finalized the contracts and decided who would go where. We had to make some modifications to allow new members, but there have always been more than five nations present in order to ratify the contracts."

"But they still need to lose their status as nations," Poland said.

"Just like Monaco just did," Italy said.

"What?!" France demanded.

…

Monaco and Luxembourg were standing outside Italy's house, waiting anxiously for news from the trio that had crossed over into enemy territory. Both of them wanted to help the other nations, but they were also afraid of death, which for the first time had become a harsh reality for them.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Monaco asked.

"I don't know," Luxembourg sighed.

Luxembourg suddenly tensed, feeling as though someone had invaded his personal space, before pain exploded in his skull as something was slammed into his head. He sank to the ground, and Monaco gasped, before she was grabbed.

"It's fortunate that micronations can instantly go where they want to," Ladonia said, before he stuck a syringe into her shoulder.

Monaco gave a strangled shriek as the needle pierced her skin, and the contents were emptied into her bloodstream. And standing over Luxembourg was Seborga, carrying a cricket bat.

"Perhaps it's a good thing I hadn't given this back to Hutt yet," Seborga said, before he turned to Monaco.

Monaco erupted in a coughing fit, and she wondered if what had been injected into her bloodstream was some kind of poison. Ladonia released her, and she fell to the ground.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Just a potion that will rob you of your status as a nation," Seborga said, raising the bat. "We need Luxembourg alive, so he only gets knocked out. But you'll be completely unrecognisable once we're done. We just need to wait for the process to be complete."

"N-no," Luxembourg groaned.

Seborga turned to him and smiled brightly.

"Oh, you're still awake," he said. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay down. You don't have the potion. I _could_ kill you, but you'll come back. But I don't want to waste the effort, you know? But I _will_ , if you make this complicated. Are we clear?"

Luxembourg didn't answer, and Seborga turned back to Monaco.

"He'll pass out soon enough," Seborga said. "So now, all we have to do is wait."

…

Norway, Iceland, Bulgaria and Moldova were watching movies, trying to stay out of Finland and Romania's way. In return, the two left them well enough alone. There was a clear divide between the nations, with one side in the position of inflicting pain on the other side – both physically and mentally – and the other side afraid to fight back.

Norway was still withdrawn, and at times appeared to be catatonic. He was the least likely to try to fight back, and also the one most likely to be hurt in order to keep the other three in line. And they all felt that the Norwegian had been hurt enough. They didn't want him to suffer anymore.

All of them looked up when Romania entered the room, carrying a bag. He deposited the bag on the couch next to Moldova, and the younger looked up curiously.

"It's colder up north," Romania said. "That coat of yours isn't ideal." He glanced towards Bulgaria. "There's one for you too."

Romania didn't wait for them to say anything, immediately turning away and leaving the room. Once he was gone, Moldova started searching through the bag.

"I had been wondering if you were cold," Iceland said.

Moldova gave a nervous laugh, before he pulled out a coat that was obviously too large for him.

"This must be yours," Moldova said, handing the coat to Bulgaria.

"Thanks," Bulgaria said. "Why would he do this?"

"Because he cares about Moldova," Norway said, surprising them. "He's trying to mend their relationship. He knows that the damage has been done, but he's still trying."

Moldova looked down, fidgeting nervously. It was unclear how he felt about it, and no one wanted to press him about it. It would take a while for him to be able to look at Romania as a brother again, instead of an oppressor.

…

"What did you do to Monaco?!" France demanded.

"It took a while," Italy explained, "but we managed to find a potion that would allow us to remove the status of a nation. It turns them into humans. Seborga and Ladonia are with them right now. No guarantee that she will live. As for Luxembourg… We want _him_ alive, along with Belgium."

"Why?" Belgium asked.

"That doesn't matter," Poland said. "And don't think we don't know about your little call to Russia."

The other three widened their eyes, and Italy and Poland chuckled.

"North Korea is an excellent hacker," Italy said. "He's been listening in on you since your little call from Prussia. He knew the moment you called Russia. And he immediately informed us."

"You always have to be a few steps ahead of us, don't you?" France said.

"We've been planning this for _hundreds_ of years," Poland said. "We've thought of every possibility and probability. We know you inside and out. We know your strengths. And we know your weaknesses. We won't allow you to surprise us. Oh, and Russia? If the Lithuanians start to get out of hand, Vilnius will die. Last warning."

France, Austria and Belgium had no idea what Poland was referring to, but since it wasn't directed at them, they supposed that it wasn't important for them. They just hoped that Russia knew what Poland was talking about.

France kept glancing between the three Amodi members. He had a knife in his pocket, but Italy and Poland had guns, while he didn't feel right about attacking Kugelmugel. And then there was the fact that they stood a decent distance away. If he wanted to attack them, he wouldn't get far before they would shoot. And he didn't know if they had a plan with the guns. For example, the bullets could be laced with the potion Italy had mentioned.

"But I think we've delayed this long enough," Poland said, raising his gun. "We still have two micronations that need to become nations."

"One last thing," France said. "What happened to England?"

"Nothing. Yet. We have three micronations stationed there. Do you think we'd just allow their positions to be compromised? We cut off all communication to and from the UK."

"So you can do _that_?"

"Si," Italy said, raising his gun as well. "Now, if that's all: arrivederci."

…

Russia sighed, hanging up his phone. He had heard two gunshots, and knew that France's group was either dead or captured. And while it didn't go exactly as they wanted, he did manage to learn a thing or two.

Amodi had the means to cut off their communication. England and his brothers were still safe, but for how long? Belgium and Luxembourg were most likely captured, since they did mention that they wanted those two. They knew how to remove a nation's nation status. And they knew about Vilnius.

France risked his life to allow Russia to learn all of this, so that he could use the information against Amodi. Hopefully.

But now Russia was tasked with another difficult task: informing America, Turkey and China about what had happened and what he had learned. And it would not be a pleasant task.

…

White looked up when the door opened, hoping that it was Israel. Her stomach dropped, however, when she saw Switzerland, carrying a bag.

Switzerland said nothing as he walked in, before depositing the bag on her bed. He turned to her, and she was surprised to see a fond look.

"This wasn't easy to find," he said. "Just so you know, I appreciate it if others enjoy the things that come from my country."

She frowned in confusion, before she opened the bag. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Heidi?" she asked.

The bag contained a portable DVD player and DVDs. She looked up at Switzerland.

"Be glad I'm even doing this," he said. "But like I said, I appreciate it if things from my country are liked."

She smiled, before she started unpacking the DVDs. This was a lot better than reading the horrible books about the Boer War.

Switzerland exited the room, and he closed the door before calmly looking at the annoyed expression of Israel.

"What was that about?" he demanded.

"Stockholm syndrome," Switzerland said simply. "This would make it easier for us, once we let her go. Don't worry. You'd still be the first nation she turns to."

And Switzerland walked away, already hearing the theme song of the children's show from the room he was leaving behind.

 **Afrikaners really like Heidi, and there's also a movie coming out soon. South Africa first got TVs in 1975, and in the 80's Heidi was one of the shows that aired, making it one of the classic children programs of Afrikaans. It even aired in the 2000's, and most Afrikaners would instantly recognise the theme music. I did some research, and the version that aired in South Africa was actually an anime (Heidi, Girl of the Alps). This show is one of the only Japanese anime to be dubbed in Afrikaans, and the Afrikaans episodes can be found on YouTube.**

 **The potion and contract first made an appearance in Chapter 12, and it was used against the Nordics. That is why Norway is still alive, even though he lost his land.**


	38. Chapter 37

**Thanks to Bubblegum Royalty, snowgem33, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Terra, shadowmoonhuntress, pastaaddict, Toesz, ScandinavianTrash, cherryfeather101 and shoujochan for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 37**

Argentina was picking debris out of her hair, glaring at Curaçao, who had a few bruises on his face and sported a busted lip, but there was a small hint of a satisfied smirk.

She had to give him credit for being able to put up a fight, but after having a building fall on top of her, he wasn't her favourite person. And it was taking all of her self-control to not punish him for the damage he had caused.

She also had to shoot a few glares towards Aruba and Sint Maarten, who found the situation hilarious.

She comforted herself in the fact that once she dropped them off in Sicily, she could kill whoever she pleased, however she pleased. And she had a feeling that a massacre would lift her spirits nicely.

…

Netherlands was lying on one of China's couches, a hand pressed against his forehead. He had a pressing headache, and he knew why.

Curaçao had been captured, joining Aruba and Sint Maarten. The Kingdom of the Netherlands's overseas territories were all under Amodi's control now. But he couldn't help but wonder about what happened to his children. Were they alright? Did Amodi hurt them? And why did they want them?

Netherlands glanced over to China when he entered the room, looking disturbed. Netherlands didn't really want to hear the news. It would only be bad news for them, and he had enough of that for a while.

"Russia called," China said. "It's a possibility that France is dead."

"France?" Netherlands repeated, sitting up. "And… what about my brother and sister?"

"Russia said that Italy and Poland said they wanted them. So… they're alive. Just captured."

Netherlands sighed in relief, glad to hear that his siblings were still alive. But just like his children, they were captured by the enemy. And Netherlands had a feeling that they weren't captured on a whim. There was something more to it.

"I want you to tell me everything that you know," Netherlands said.

…

"And you _allowed_ that to happen?!" America shouted.

Michoacán and Yemen watched as America paced, his phone pressed to his ear. The two of them weren't too concerned about the tone of voice America was using, seeing as the call was with Russia, but something in America's eyes told them that it was serious, and that something _bad_ had happened.

"I had no choice, comrade," Russia said. "France knew what he was getting himself into. And when he called me, he was already in front of Italy's home. I _told_ him that it was a trap, but he said he knew. He sacrificed himself to give us information."

America took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. France had been his friend, and also like an older brother (though America would deny it when confronted about it). To hear that he had been killed…

"Would you like to hear what I've learned?" Russia asked.

"Sure," America said, before sitting down.

"Attacking their countries would be useless. They've disconnected from their land."

"That might be why they go for the nation instead. If any of us did the same thing that they did…"

"Da. A part of me thinks that some of the things they do are because they're worried that someone else does the same things. At least, that's a theory."

"Okay. What else did you learn?" America asked.

"They can cut off our communication. That's what they did to Angliya. But apparently he's still alright."

America sighed in relief, glad to hear that his brother figure was alright. But for how long?

"Anything else?" America asked.

"Da. They have a potion that can eliminate the status of a nation. _Without_ killing them."

"What?! But then… Why are they…?"

"They're doing it to be cruel, comrade. And they've already decided who gets which land. All they need to do is eliminate the one that already has it."

America swallowed nervously. Hearing all of this… it was horrible. He already knew that Amodi was evil, but _this_ …

"That is all, comrade," Russia said. "I still need to call Turkey. You need to get as many of the other nations out of their line of fire as you can."

"Of course," America said. "I'm the hero, after all."

America hung up and sighed, before he turned his attention to the other two, who were waiting patiently.

"That was Russia," America said.

"We know," Yemen and Michoacán said simultaneously.

"What did he say?" Michoacán asked.

"France's group is dead, except for the Dutchie and his siblings," America said.

"That's not good," Yemen said.

"Of course not. And… Italy knows how to remove someone's status as a nation, _without_ killing them. So what they've been doing… I always used to think the Commie and the terrorists are evil, but they've got _nothing_ on Italy's group. No offence."

"None taken," Yemen said, though he was a little annoyed.

"They know that killing everyone would be more effective in the long run than simply removing their nation status," Michoacán said. "And it makes us scared of them. And they were trying to be secretive about it in the beginning, right? Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead, after all."

"Still…" America said.

"Let's focus on getting everyone to safety first," Michoacán said. "Oman's next." She turned to Yemen. "You called him, right?"

Yemen nodded his head, and Michoacán turned her attention back to America.

"One more thing," America said. "Apparently, they can cut off our communications. Why haven't they yet?"

Michoacán frowned, and Yemen looked between the two of them.

"You were all together for a while, right?" Yemen asked.

"What do you mean?" America asked.

"The story that was circulating was that a large group of you went to England's house in an attempt to figure out a plan against Amodi, but obviously you've split up. But you were together until a while ago?"

"Si," Michoacán said.

"And what happened since then?"

"Well, we tried to save Madagascar, but then she died," America said. "We learned that nations under their control can't escape without dying."

"We also learned that the micronations are on their side," Michoacán said. "Or at least the ones that are friends with Italy's brother."

"And we couldn't get a hold of Iggy…"

"Are there micronations with England?" Yemen asked.

"Yeah. Sealand, Wy and Hutt River…"

"And they cut off communication?"

"Si," Michoacán said. "I think it's because they didn't want their spies' covers to be blown."

Yemen looked thoughtful.

"But they let you spread the word about what happened to Madagascar?" Yemen asked.

"Yeah," America said.

"I think they _wanted_ you to know about that, and to inform as many nations as possible."

The other two were silent for a moment, before Michoacán nodded her head.

"It makes sense," Michoacán said. "If the news reached the nations under their control, then they wouldn't try to escape, and the rest of us wouldn't want to kill them."

"Unless it's to commit suicide," Yemen said. "For the nations under Amodi's control… If they become hopeless, they might try to take the easy way out."

"I don't think they'd do that," America said. "They wouldn't want their people to keep suffering under them."

Yemen looked thoughtful, before shrugging.

"And they're letting us know about France's group," Yemen continued. "But I have a feeling that they're going to think that we know too much."

"What do you mean?" Michoacán asked.

"They let us know that they can cut off communication. It's both a warning and a threat. Once they feel that we know enough about them, they're going to cut off our communication with each other. We would be helpless."

Michoacán gasped in realisation.

"They're letting us know _now_ because it would make us fear them," Michoacán said. "But if they cut off our communications… We'd be helpless. We wouldn't know what's going on in the rest of the world. We wouldn't be able to notify anyone we're trying to save. And… Unable to communicate… We'd be subject to attacks from our own allies."

America bit his lip.

"They could have been lying," America said. "They just want us to be paranoid. Yeah, that's it…"

Yemen and Michoacán exchanged a glance. They could clearly see that America was trying to convince himself, and it wasn't working.

"I guess only time will tell," Michoacán sighed.

…

Turkey was driving when his phone rang. He cursed slightly, before taking it out and handing it to Hungary, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Here," he said.

Hungary took it and answered.

"Hello?" Hungary said.

"Privet, Hungary," Russia's voice said from the other side, causing her to shudder. "Could I perhaps speak to Turkey?"

"He's driving," Hungary said. "How important is it?"

Russia hesitated, and Hungary instinctively knew that something had happened.

"Austria is dead," Russia said.

"What?!" Hungary shouted, startling Turkey to the point that he swerved in the road. "What happened?"

"France received a call from Prussia, but they knew that it was a trap. Still, they managed to gather some useful information."

"And France still dragged him to his death?!"

Turkey sighed, before he pulled the car over on the side of the road. He held out his hand, and Hungary reluctantly handed back the phone.

"What happened?" Turkey asked.

"France, Austria and possibly Monaco are dead, while I think Belgium and Luxembourg were captured," Russia said.

"That explains what made Hungary so upset. But what happened?"

"France knew that it was a suicide mission. He had gone in to try to perhaps kill one of them, but also to find some information. He didn't manage to kill or even injure one of them, but he _did_ manage to learn something."

"And how do you know this?"

"He called me and left his phone on speaker while Italy and Poland were chatting."

"That is so cliché…"

"Which part?"

"The bad guys telling the plans before they try to kill the good guys."

"Well, in this case, it was more than 'try'…"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And they knew that I was on the other end of the line."

"What? But… How did they…?"

"That's the part that bothers me the most. They _knew_ what we were doing."

Turkey sighed, removing his mask and rubbing at his eyes. He felt so tired. He glanced at Hungary, seeing her fuming, but she was trying very hard to hold back her tears.

"You said that France managed to learn a thing or two," Turkey said. "Well?"

"Da. Attacking the country is useless. The members of Amodi had disconnected from their land and people."

"Damn. They broke the most sacred rule about being a nation. The people must always come first."

"Da. And they claim to also be able to cut off our communication."

"Shit. So, if they decided to act on it…"

"Da. We'd have no way to contact each other."

"Damn. Anything else?"

"One more thing. They claim to have a potion that can _relieve_ someone of their nation status. _Without_ killing them."

"What? But then… Those sick bastards! They started a massacre when they have the means to _avoid_ it?"

The other occupants of the car looked at Turkey curiously, but he didn't care. They would learn in due time.

"Da. A part of me thinks that they want to be sure, but there's another part that thinks otherwise. That they don't kill because they _have_ to."

"They kill because they _want_ to," Turkey finished. "Dammit. Those bastards…"

"We need to think of a way to bring the fight to them."

Turkey didn't say anything about that being what he was on his way to do. He was suddenly paranoid. He didn't want to say anything on the phone. Italy and Poland had known that Russia was on the phone with France. What if they could trace their calls?

"You mentioned Belgium and Luxembourg," Turkey said. "But not Netherlands. What happened to him?"

"Apparently France thought to send him to China before they even thought of their suicide mission," Russia said. "I don't know the details, and China seemed reluctant to say anything."

Turkey grunted, knowing that China didn't like Netherlands very much.

"Alright," Turkey said. "If you can, see if you can find one of their bases. We've got other business to take care of."

"Very well, comrade. If I learn anything, I will contact you. Provided that they don't cut off our communication."

"It might have been an empty threat."

"Nyet. That is what they did to England."

"Oh, I see. Well, good luck then, Russia."

"Da. For you as well, comrade."

Turkey hung up the phone, before he looked at Hungary. It became clearer than ever that she was trying very hard to hold back tears.

And Turkey could understand it well. She had always been pretty close with Austria, even before and after their marriage. And then there was also Prussia to think about. They'd known each other since they were children, and neither wanted to admit it, but they were the best of friends. They didn't know if Prussia was alive or dead.

He hated these modern times. Things were less complicated when he was still the Ottoman Empire.

Wait a minute…

"I have an idea," Turkey said, his voice low. "But it's going to be tricky, and you might not like it."

"Tell us what happened first," Greece said. "Then we'll decide if your idea is worth listening to."

"Fine," Turkey said, starting up the car. "I'll tell you on the way. We still need to meet up with Syria."

"Anything to get rid of those bastards," Hungary hissed lowly.

Turkey sighed. He knew that she had been friends with Poland, and she had practically _raised_ Italy. But now, she hated those two, along with everyone on their side.

It might prove to be to their advantage.

…

Luxembourg and Belgium were taken to Amodi's base in Vatican. Luxembourg seemed to be in a daze, Seborga having hit him pretty hard. And they had shot Belgium in the abdomen, avoiding anything vital. But it made sure that she didn't try to fight.

"Here we are," Italy said, smirking at his captives. "Feliks will show you to your room."

Poland smirked, and Luxembourg and Belgium reluctantly followed after him. He gestured at a room, and they could hear something coming from it. He opened the door and they shuffled inside.

They weren't expecting to see South Africa, and she wasn't expecting to see them. She paused the portable DVD player before going over to them.

"België," she said. "Luxemburg. What are you doing here?"

"They apparently want us for something," Luxembourg said, looking at her curiously. "Why are you here?"

"They found out that I shared my country with someone else, and they wanted to punish me," she said. "They also killed my colleague."

"Oh. That must be bad."

"Bruder," Belgium muttered, "help me get to the bed."

He nodded, guiding her to the bed. South Africa made room and looked at the other female nation with a small amount of worry.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It's a long story," Luxembourg sighed. "Could we maybe rest a while?"

"Ja, natuurlik."

He looked at her strangely again. It wasn't too uncommon for a nation to revert to their official language, but South Africa had eleven, one of them being English. It was rare for her to revert to Afrikaans in the presence of other nations, with the exception of Namibia.

But he had heard her speak Afrikaans before, and it sounded a little different then than it did now. It almost sounded like…

He mentally shook his head. He had heard all about the movements. She wouldn't revert back.

Would she?

As he lay down next to Belgium, he listened closely to his possible-niece. She was whispering something under her breath that sounded a lot like a poem, but he couldn't quite figure out if it was Afrikaans or Dutch.

He wondered what had been going on with her. Something about her seemed different, but not in a good way.

…

Turkey had explained his plan to the others, and they stayed perfectly silent. Turkey wasn't sure if they agreed or disagreed, but it was a good plan. It would certainly level the playing field a little, especially against opponents like Amodi.

Turkey stared in front of him and felt his annoyance grow. They had crossed the Syrian border without a problem, but now it came in the form of a group of terrorists.

"Your plan…" Hungary started. "I think we can use them as catalysts."

Turkey stared at her, and he could see an old gleam in her eyes. He looked in the rear view mirror at the others, and he was pleased to see something similar in their eyes.

Turkey smirked as they approached the terrorists. At the very least, they'll be doing Syria a huge favour.

…

Philippines chuckled, continuing the barrage of machine gun fire. The people were scrambling along the streets in an attempt to get away, but they wouldn't get far. She would kill them all.

"Philippines!"

She stopped her assault to look behind her. She smirked when she saw Malaysia, and she was more than pleased to see that he looked afraid of her.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Because Italy asked me to," she said, before turning the weapon to him. "Another way to kill a nation: completely eliminate their population. You'll wake up later. And I'll kill you again."

And her assault continued, this time on a single body.

…

A young man walked along the island, not caring much about the scenery. He had to find her.

His black hair swayed in the breeze, and his brown eyes scanned the surroundings. She wouldn't turn him away. He was sure of it.

He saw her by the beach, looking around nervously. The scar on his neck prickled as he walked closer. She saw him and smiled.

"Tokyo," she said. "I wasn't expecting you. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, Hawaii," he said, walking closer. "Everything still peaceful?"

"Of course. The war hasn't reached this place yet. I hope that it doesn't."

He came to a stop next to her, his hand in his pocket.

"You never know," he said. "After all, remember what happened in the last one."

And in a flash, he removed the knife from his pocket and stabbed it in her heart. Her eyes and mouth widened in surprise, and he merely looked at her coldly. He allowed her to drop to the ground as his hand went into his other pocket, producing a cell phone.

He called San Marino to report the death of Hawaii.

 **Credit for Tokyo goes to LifeLeaves.**

 **So I recently started Mandarin, and the lecturer (who is Taiwanese) expressed her surprise when she found out that South Africa has eleven official languages. She thought that it was just English. And in class, the rest of us all communicate in Afrikaans with each other.**

 **The movements Luxembourg was referring to are the Afrikaans language movements, in order to separate Afrikaans from Dutch and to have it recognised as its own language. It has significance, and it will be seen with a few other nations as well. Anyway, the poem White was muttering is supposed to be 'Klaas Geswind en syn perd', one of the earliest Afrikaans poems, and technically somewhere in the middle between Afrikaans and Dutch. Again, it has relevance. I wanted to add a quote or something, but I don't currently have the book it's in with me.**


	39. Chapter 38

**Thanks to Terra, shoujochan, Eternal Nexus Warrior, ScandinavianTrash and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 38**

Turkey came to a stop next to the terrorists, and he looked at the other occupants in the car. Hungary had a crazed look in her eyes, and there was a strange excitement in Cyprus and Greece's eyes. Turkey had to contain his smirk as he exited the car.

He could only think that it was a good thing they had dropped off TRNC at a safe place. He wouldn't want the kid to see what they were about to do.

"What do you want?" Turkey demanded.

"What is your purpose here?" one of the men asked.

"Well, I'm just meeting up with a very distant relative. So if you'll excuse us…"

The terrorist narrowed his eyes, and Turkey sighed.

"We're in the middle of a war," Turkey said. "Not our first war. But in this war, we were betrayed by people that we have known for _centuries_."

At the mention of 'centuries', the group of humans took a step back, each reaching for their weapons. Turkey smirked, and he saw the others exiting the car as well.

"That's right," Turkey said lowly. "I'm at least two thousand years old, and while these three were kids that I raised, they're still older than you combined. And we've had a bit of a rough week."

"Not to mention that someone I care about has been murdered," Hungary said, her eyes glowing dangerously. "And I guess we're fortunate that you're here."

"We haven't had a chance to take out our anger or stress yet," Cyprus said.

"And for the record," Greece said, "you can die. We can't. Not by a human's hand."

"Knowing all that," Turkey said, "are you going to let us through, or are we going to get rough?"

…

America bit his lip, looking out the window. They had already started their descent, and Oman had said that he would meet them at the airport.

"What happened?" Michoacán asked, looking bored.

"Hawaii's been killed," America said.

"That's one of your states, isn't it?" Yemen asked.

"Yeah," America said. "Why are they targeting them? Most of them are still so young…"

"In war, it doesn't matter. And they don't fight a normal war, do they? They'll do anything they can to keep their advantage. More than we'd be willing to do."

"Out of curiosity, what would _you_ do?"

Yemen was silent for a moment, tilting his head back as he thought.

"I would certainly go for the weakest links first," Yemen said. "It's only natural, after all."

"And what would you see as the 'weak links'?" America asked.

"The micronations," Michoacán said, eyes widening in realisation. "We could target the micronations."

"Yeah, but the ones at Iggy's are, well, with him, and we don't know where they are. And the others are probably close to Italy's group."

"But there _is_ a micronation that we can attack."

America looked confused for a moment, before his eyes widened.

"You mean…?"

Michoacán smirked and nodded. America looked conflicted, but hesitantly nodded his head.

"If that's the only way," America said, taking out his cell phone.

…

"Gracias," Mexico said, before she hung up the phone. "Dixie!"

Confederacy rushed in, looking a little worried.

"What is it, Rosa?" Confederacy asked.

"Italy just called," Mexico said. "To give us a little gift."

Mexico threw her arms around Confederacy's waist, and the latter gave a small smile.

"I see," Confederacy said. "And what is this 'gift' that's made you so excited?"

Mexico chuckled, nuzzling into Confederacy's neck.

"Hawaii," she whispered.

Confederacy widened her eyes, before she grinned.

"And whose is it?" she asked.

"It's _ours_ ," Mexico said. "Tropical islands that are ours alone. And the part that makes it so much sweeter is the fact that it's the gringo's old territory. And we didn't need to lift a finger to get it."

Confederacy chuckled.

"It sounds lovely," Confederacy said. "I'm assuming we'll take a little vacation there?"

"Soon," Mexico promised.

…

Canada was once again looking at the American map. He wasn't worried about Alaska – the state's days were numbered – but he would like to have a new place to order an attack.

Perhaps he should focus more on the borders?

He jumped slightly when his phone rang, and he quickly answered it, seeing that it was Italy.

"Hello?" Canada said.

"I need you to go to Mexico and Confederacy," Italy said. "Operation Island will start soon, and they don't have the tools needed for it yet."

"Yes. Understood."

Canada hung up the phone and sighed. He would have his soldiers continue on without him. He had other things to tend to.

…

England tapped his foot in annoyance. He had driven all the way to London to hear what had happened with their cell phone signal. But it was more than just cell phones.

Landlines, internet, GPS, radio… Anything used to communicate, or which could communicate to them. Even Morse code – as outdated as it was – would no longer work. At the moment, the only means to communicate would be snail mail. Or carrier pigeons.

And the most annoying part was that England couldn't verify with the other nations, so he didn't know if it was just the British Isles or if the entire _world_ was affected by it.

But above all, he was worried that this meant that Amodi could attack at any time. Radar didn't work, and even if it did, they had no means to contact him, or his army.

He hated the fact that he was a sitting duck. He hated being at their mercy.

And he hated the fact that he had gotten so used to and dependent on modern communication. They didn't _used_ to have it, but it had been so long since England had resorted to the old means. No one alive in his country knew those means anymore, so it was hard for England to use them.

Not to mention, the frustration and confusion of his people were affecting him as well. It was sad to see how dependent they had become of communication.

There was nothing more that he could do, so England decided to return back to base. He hoped that nothing would happen until they've resolved this issue.

…

"Got it," Sealand said, whispering into the phone.

With communication cut off, they couldn't afford for the UK brothers to see them using cell phones (except for games). The only one that knew what was happening was Wales, and the micronations had to keep a close eye on him.

Wales seemed to be anxious. The Bonds were affecting his emotions _big time_. It was mostly because they no longer had other nations around to calm him. Being in close confines with nations that he hated without others to distract him made the Bonds want to force him to act sooner.

Australia and New Zealand weren't targets for Wales's hatred, so their interactions with Wales had no risk of setting him off. The micronations could also keep him calm, but it would look too suspicious if they spent too much time together.

Sealand had been asked to keep Italy updated, and Italy had told him to keep Wales calm. He would be ordered to kill the others very soon, and they didn't want him to break his cover.

For now, the most important thing was to see how the UK siblings reacted to the lack of communication.

…

Malaysia groaned, regaining consciousness. His body felt sore, and he had to remember what had happened.

Philippines and a machine gun. He had died, but it wasn't the permanent type of death that Amodi seemed to specialise in. It was the temporary deaths that all nations were familiar with. Didn't she say that Italy had asked her to attack him? Did that mean that she was part of Amodi, or that she was lying?

As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realised that he was in a seated position. It took him longer to realise that there was something around his wrists, and after some tugging, he realised that it was rope that was tied around his wrists.

He swallowed nervously, before he opened his eyes. He was at first surprised to see that he was in his own home, but he was tied to a dining room chair, sitting at the table.

And sitting across from him was none other than Philippines, who smiled when he opened his eyes.

"It's about time you woke up," she said. "I was starting to get bored.

He writhed his hands, trying to break free from the ropes that bound him, but she had tied it well. Seeing that he couldn't fight his way out, he swallowed nervously.

"What are you planning to do to me?" he asked.

She chuckled.

"Do you _really_ need to ask that question?" she asked. "Can't you feel them?"

Malaysia frowned in confusion, before his eyes widened. Yes, he could feel them. In his country…

"Filipino soldiers," he whispered.

"That's right," Philippines said. "Killing your people. Well, I think you could say it's a slaughter. Some of them are being executed."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because when your population is completely depleted, or at least after enough of them had died, I will kill you. Permanently."

"No!" he shouted, struggling in his bonds. "Why?! Why are you doing this?!"

Philippines was silent for a while.

"Let me tell you why I joined Amodi," she said. "At first, it was because I saw what they were doing, and _this_ time, I was going to be on the stronger side. It was for my people. But I also wanted to see several nations crash and burn. America, China, Japan… I just wish that I could have taken part in Spain's death. I went to Mexico because I knew she was a member, and because she's one of the few nations that I like, and who was _nice_ to me. But I got bored. There was _nothing_ for me to do there. So when Italy called to tell me that he had a job for me, I happily took it. That job was to exterminate most of ASEAN, and I decided to start with you. He asked me to kill your people, and then to kill you. I was bored, so I accepted."

Malaysia's eyes were wide, and he stared at her in horror.

"How could you agree to something like this?" he asked. "How could you let him tell you to do this?"

"You don't get it," she said. "I asked a few of the other members of Amodi about how they operate. They don't force you to do things that you don't want to do."

It took him a moment to process what she was saying, and he could feel his blood run cold. She _wanted_ to do this.

Philippines giggled, before she stood.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," she said. "I'm going out to kill more of your people."

He didn't say anything, and she left. His thoughts were racing.

She _wanted_ to attack him, and others as well. And she wasn't going with bombs or anything. She was using her soldiers and doing it herself. And he could feel every death as it happened, and he could do nothing to save his people.

He could feel tears welling in his eyes, and the first started rolling down his cheek. She deliberately used a slow way to kill him, both emotionally and physically.

There was nothing more important to a nation than their people. And he could do nothing as his were being slaughtered. It was the cruellest torture that he had ever been forced to endure.

And the worst part was that he _knew_ that he wouldn't be saved, so he didn't even bother with hope.

…

Indonesia didn't quite know why he had been brought along. The other prisoners all had something in common: Portugal. And they would often speak Portuguese, especially when either India or Romano were nearby.

He sighed, watching as Portugal discussed something with Brazil in Portuguese. East Timor and Macau were following the conversation closely.

East Timor must have heard him, for he turned his attention to Indonesia. The latter said nothing as his brother came over to sit beside him.

"It must be frustrating, huh?" Timor asked. "Sorry about that."

Indonesia shrugged.

"Would be nice to be included," Indonesia said.

"Don't worry about this," Timor said. "This is irrelevant. They're having a conversation solely for the reason of having one."

"Niettemin," Indonesia said, "it would be nice to be included."

Timor turned to him, startled, and Indonesia frowned in confusion.

"What?" Indonesia asked.

"Buana," Timor said, "did you just… lapse into Dutch?"

Indonesia blinked before widening his eyes.

"I… Did I?" he asked. "It… It must be because I was speaking with South Africa and it must have…"

Indonesia shook his head, a baffled look on his face.

"Why would I…?" he muttered.

"It's probably just stress," Timor shrugged, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

…

Italy was lying on the large queen sized bed that he had claimed as his own, with Poland lying on top of his chest. Poland looked as though he was about to fall asleep, and Italy found the sight absolutely adorable.

"We did it," Poland murmured. "We killed France."

"Si," Italy said. "And Austria. We managed to kill one of the most influential nations in the world, and another that caused us so much unhappiness in the past."

Poland snuggled into Italy's chest, and Italy gave a soft smile, stroking the blond hair.

"Do you still want to go?" Italy asked.

"It's not a matter of _want_ ," Poland said. "That bastard needs to pay for everything he's done to me."

Italy made a sound of assent, and he sighed.

"How long do you think it will take?" Italy asked.

"Depends on how long it takes me to find him," Poland said. "And then I want to play with him a little. I already asked North Korea to try to track him down."

Italy sighed, his fingers twirling a lock of Poland's hair.

"I know that this is something that you _have_ to do," Italy said. "But… I want you to stay with me."

Poland moved his head so that he was looking at Italy, the familiar cocky smile on his face.

"San Marino knows to knock on the bedroom door, right?" Poland asked.

"I told him not to bother us at all," Italy said. "Unless the building is on fire, of course. And I already had everyone that make their reports directly to me do that, as well as giving them all orders. So no one will interrupt us."

"Good," Poland said as he leaned up to kiss Italy.

…

Germany glanced over towards Prussia, trying to think of what to say.

Switzerland had come down earlier, an absolutely _evil_ smirk on his face. He had come to tell them that France and Austria had died.

Two of Germany's neighbours, and two of Prussia's friends (though he would never admit to seeing Austria as his friend). And Prussia felt worse for it because he was the one that had made the call. The call that had sent them to their deaths.

Germany had no idea what to say. Of course, he was no stranger to guilt. His actions during World War Two had introduced him. But it was different when it was someone you knew for _centuries_. Your _friends_.

What _was_ there to say?

"I'll see them again, won't I West?" Prussia asked, breaking the younger German from his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Germany asked.

"Toni, Franny, Specs… I'll see them again, right?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"West, I think we both know that we won't see the end of this war. They're going to kill us. Probably soon. Do you think we're going to see them again?"

Ludwig swallowed nervously.

"J-ja," he said. "I mean, I've met Roman Empire before. I… I think we'll definitely be able to see them again."

Prussia chuckled bitterly.

"I used to fight in wars, until the bitter end," Prussia said. "Now I've been captured before it even started, and I've been reduced to waiting for my death which _will_ come."

Germany sighed.

"The mighty has fallen," Germany said. "I'm just afraid of what Italy's group will do to the world."

"But we won't be around to see it for ourselves," Prussia said.

"You're probably right."

…

China sighed in frustration. He had already told Netherlands everything that he knew about his siblings' fate, which wasn't much. And now he had no authority to stop Netherlands from smoking.

He knew that the other carried his pipe around at all times, and he wasn't completely convinced that it was tobacco in the pipe. And he should have realised that the other would go for the pipe when he was stressed. So now, there was an entire area in the house where he didn't dare to go.

He had taken the others to an old, abandoned village in the mountains. He had kept his house that stood there intact, just in case there was an emergency. And it was a good thing too. The house was more of an estate, and China had lived there as the village leader. But time changed everything.

He couldn't blame Netherlands for wanting to ease his nerves. He was worried about Macau, Hong Kong and Tibet, but he knew that they were still alive. Luxembourg and Belgium weren't a part of Netherlands. He had no way of knowing whether they were alive or dead. And anything that happened in their countries could be up for interpretation.

China wanted to fight. He didn't want to just sit around and wait for Amodi to try to find them. But he had no idea how to go about it. The only thing he could think of to launch an offensive was nuclear warheads, but he didn't know where Hong Kong and the others were. He could kill them without meaning to.

For now, he would have to wait for the others to come up with a plan. Because for now, he had no idea what to do.

 **When I think of Confederacy, the first name I think of is Dixie. And I tried to find a nice name for Indonesia.**


	40. Chapter 39

**Thanks to Terra, missycanucks, pastaaddict, Toesz, Skye Phoenix Dove, shoujochan and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 39**

Liechtenstein had been doting on Molossia since he had gotten shot. And it was clear to everyone that the micronation was embarrassed by the attention, but secretly enjoyed it.

"How are you feeling?" Liechtenstein asked.

"It still stings," Molossia said, "but it's doing better. Vatican really knows what he's doing."

Liechtenstein giggled, before she kissed him. Molossia smiled into the kiss as he returned it.

But without warning, Molossia suddenly cried out in pain, clutching his chest. Liechtenstein looked startled and worried.

"What's going on?!" Liechtenstein demanded.

"That bastard," Molossia gasped, before he coughed up some blood.

"What's happening?" Liechtenstein whispered, looking at the blood.

"America."

Liechtenstein's face darkened as she realised what was happening.

"Switzerland!" Liechtenstein shouted as she went towards Molossia, helping him lie down. Switzerland ran into the room, followed by South Korea.

"What is it?" Switzerland asked, before his eyes landed on Molossia.

"America's attacking Molossia's land," Liechtenstein said.

Switzerland and Korea exchanged a look. While the nations had found a way to detach themselves from their countries, the micronations weren't quite so lucky. They needed more land, and if what little land they had was attacked, well…

Molossia screamed in pain, curling up on the bed. Liechtenstein soothed his hair, which was already damp with sweat, while his face was already completely soaked.

"We need to call Canada," South said.

"Hurry," Liechtenstein said.

The ribbons appeared around her hands, the red on the right and black on the left. Both of them were glowing. Switzerland and South noticed this and exchanged a look.

The Bonds were threatened, and if either of them breaks, the rest of them would be able to feel it. And it wouldn't be good.

…

Canada jumped when his phone rang, and he quickly answered.

"Hello?" Canada said.

"Canada, this is South Korea," the other said. "You need to order your people to take Nevada, right now."

Canada frowned in confusion.

"What's going on?" Canada asked. "Usually, orders come from either San Marino or Italy…"

"Molossia's being attacked. And micronations wouldn't be able to survive for long."

Canada's eyes widened, and he swore.

"I'm on it," Canada said. "How's Liechtenstein?"

"You don't want to know."

"Get one of the other micronations to look for Nevada. If those Bonds break…"

"Why do you think I called? And why are we still wasting time?"

South hung up, and Canada wasted no time, not even bothering to call his military and instead using the connection he had with his people. They needed to take Nevada, immediately.

The Bonds made them strong, and if one of them broke the Bonds, it could affect all of them. They would feel immense pain, and some of the people they had recruited through hate would be free. The Bonds would have to be forged again. But some of them wouldn't want to be part of it anymore.

Canada was one of the nations that _wanted_ those Bonds, and it wasn't because of their influence. He had wanted them even when they were weak. Before he had gotten together with Egypt. And Egypt was also someone that had no problem with the darker side of the Bonds of hate.

But there was one ally that they couldn't afford to break free from the Bonds. They couldn't have him free from their influence. Not yet. They couldn't afford for Wales to not be clouded by their hatred anymore, along with his own hatred.

And if the Bonds broke, then it offered the opportunity for them to betray each other. Canada had no interest in that, but some of the others might decide that they weren't willing to go with Amodi's methods anymore. Except they might decide to use them one more time…

They couldn't afford for even a micronation to be disconnected from the Bonds.

The only good thing that might emerge from a Bond being severed was that, for a short time, they would be a lot stronger.

…

White, Luxembourg and Belgium all looked up when they heard someone screaming. Belgium and Luxembourg became frightened, while White looked unimpressed.

"That's strange," White said. "They don't go out of their way to torture anyone."

"Do you think that's what it is?" Luxembourg asked. "Torture?"

"Those screams aren't because he's happy."

Belgium swallowed nervously.

"What do you think's happening?" Belgium asked.

"Don't know," White said. "But I feel sorry for the guy."

…

Hong Kong, Tibet and Laos were startled when they heard someone screaming. Hong Kong frowned in confusion.

"That sounds like Molossia," he said. "What's going on?"

"It seems as though one of their territories is being attacked," Laos said, a small smirk on his face.

Tibet and Hong Kong exchanged a look, before a grin blossomed on each of their faces.

It would seem as though Amodi got a little kick where the sun didn't shine.

…

Molossia kept screaming in pain, and Liechtenstein's fear and anger grew with each passing second. South and Switzerland stood nearby, along with Seborga, Vatican, San Marino, Israel, North and Belarus.

"What's taking Italy and Poland so long?" Switzerland asked, looking at San Marino.

"They'll be here soon," San Marino replied.

Molossia eventually stopped, though now he was trembling violently. Liechtenstein placed her hand on his cheek, and he leaned into the touch.

They all looked up when they heard running footsteps, and they turned to see Italy and Poland approaching.

"What happened?" Poland asked, looking into the room.

"America attacked Molossia," Liechtenstein said. "We need to make him a nation, _now_."

"I already called Canada," South said, glancing nervously towards Italy. "I also told Ladonia to start looking for the state's personification."

Italy nodded, and South relaxed. Poland looked over towards North.

"I think you should allow Liechtenstein to listen to the last conversation Molossia had with America," Poland said.

At Poland's words Liechtenstein stood to attention, and she turned her attention towards North. Without a word, she stalked over towards him and grabbed his arm, pulling him along. Belarus watched this for a moment before she followed after them.

"A part of me feels sorry for America," Switzerland said.

"He'll definitely regret his actions," Poland said. "And speaking of, I need to go to Mongolia. I'll have North text me later with the location."

Italy nodded his head, before he kissed Poland on the temple.

"And no more walking in on them," San Marino muttered with a smile.

"I'll tend to Molossia," Vatican sighed. "Again."

…

Singapore bit her lip as she watched the news. She knew full well what was happening in Malaysia, and had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before the attack was directed towards her.

She considered the call that China had made near the beginning. The one that she had denied. Perhaps she should accept it now.

All she knew for sure was that she _needed_ to get out of her country as soon as possible. She didn't want to suffer the effects of yet another World War. She didn't want to fight, and she didn't want to be attacked. But she knew that she probably had no choice.

Once she made arrangements with her military to increase the security, she would ask China if she could join them.

…

Serbia groaned as he massaged his temples. Having the majority of the Balkan nations in the same building was probably not the best idea.

But they had no choice. They needed to stick together if they wanted to survive against Amodi. They had a preference for attacking the personifications of the nations, so it was best they stayed together.

But it was nerve-wracking to see everything that was happening on the news. France and Austria appeared to have been killed, and Belgium and Luxembourg appeared to show signs of being conquered as well. And it didn't look as though it was going well with Monaco either.

And they had also seen what was happening in Malaysia. It was unclear whether it was Amodi or simply someone taking advantage of the chaos the world was in. All that Serbia knew was that it was dangerous out there, more so than ever before.

None of the Balkans wanted to fight in this war, but they would fight if they had to. Fight to the bitter end.

And speaking of which, there was an argument going on between Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia _still_ couldn't understand why the twins had to argue whenever they were together. And whenever someone suggested that they should perhaps separate, the two of them would freak out and insist that they stay together.

Honestly, sometimes it seemed as though they lived to frustrate those around them.

He could also hear other arguments happening, and he himself had had to walk away from several already. He didn't want to risk any of the others getting mad at him and deciding that they would rather take their chances on their own. He didn't want any of them to die.

They had already lost Bulgaria to Amodi. He didn't want to lose anyone else.

He knew that each of them would fight to the bitter end, but looking at each of them, he wondered if they would fight _together_ until the bitter end.

…

Russia was trying to think of what to do. He had already told everyone he had to about what he had learned from France's call, with the exception of England, but no one was able to get in contact with him.

He was also worried about Poland's knowledge of Vilnius, and that she was with him. But he was also worried about the fact that Poland only threatened her if the Lithuanians gave him trouble. What was Poland planning to do about it? He wouldn't just let her go.

Russia still remembered when Vilnius had been born, or should he say, when she had manifested. It was somewhere in the nineteenth century, and Lithuania was living with him and was working as his housekeeper, while also having to maintain his own country and trying to stay afloat amidst the changes happening throughout Europe. Lithuania was stressed and slowly becoming insane from all the stress.

It was an option available for nations. They could split the work and also the pressure. All they had to do was allow for a piece of them to take form.

Russia had been surprised when he had first seen Vilnius. And he could clearly see the fear that Lithuania had. He wasn't sure what Lithuania had been thinking, but he suspected that the fear was for Russia's reaction to it all, and what he might do to little Vilnius.

But they had nothing to worry about. Russia adored children, and he rather liked Lithuania. So it was only natural that Russia took a liking to Lithuania's sister. And he knew that Lithuania was someone that was easily affected by things happening around him, so it was only natural that Lithuania would want someone who would be able to sympathise with him. And it was also a lot safer for nations when their confidants were a part of them.

And some nations were made up of smaller personifications beforehand, the most prominent example being Germany. America was also a prime example. And some of them had smaller personifications side-by-side, like Japan. It was especially helpful during times like the American Civil War or Feudal Japan.

Except, of course, if another nation emerged.

Another nation indicated that the divide between the people was too large. That there was next to no chance that the nation's people could stand together. Not without a lot of bloodshed.

And one of the nations would need to be killed.

It was what was supposed to happen with Confederacy, but apparently America hadn't done it properly. She had fled to Mexico, and now was a part of Amodi.

That was a danger involved with having too many personifications for one nation. That was why nations were hesitant about allowing even a small part of their nations to have a separate personification. Capitals were the most popular. But once they knew that the other posed no threat, they were protective, but not _too_ protective. They usually enjoyed having a new sibling.

Russia had considered doing the same, but he knew that with everything that had happened to him, he would have felt too guilty to burden another with his pain. Especially if that other person was a child.

He was a little startled when his chest hurt, and he looked down, but this time his heart didn't fall out. Curious, he checked to see if it was still in the same place. It was.

He was then reminded of the fact that he had to take a course of action. Thinking about it, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to gather the former nations of the Soviet Union. Well, those that weren't Amodi nations or dead.

With a decision finally in mind, he decided to start with Azerbaijan…

…

It was tense on their plane as they took the opportunity to refuel. Oman had no idea what to say, unwilling to start an argument that could result in him being left behind for Amodi to kill. America was tapping his foot nervously, biting his lip, and Michoacán was reading through a newspaper she had gotten in the airport.

Yemen sighed, deciding that it would be best to go to the bathroom, and as he stood, America's phone rang, startling everyone. America quickly fished the device out of his pocket.

"Yo, you've reached the hero," America said.

There was a cold, bitter laugh on the other end, one more chilling than what Russia could ever accomplish, and America felt a chill run down his spine.

"'Hero'?" a cold, sweet-sounding voice said on the other side. "You're no hero. As far as I'm concerned, you're nothing but a villain, Alfred F. Jones."

"Who is this?" America demanded.

"Put it on speaker," Michoacán said hastily.

America quickly fumbled to turn on the speaker. It would seem that the one on the other side knew what he was doing and was waiting for him, for she had remained silent.

"Who is this?" America repeated.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't know who I am," the other said. "After all, I'm not a big country. Yet. And unlike you, I don't have problems with my people or government. That much wasn't part of the mask."

"Liechtenstein," Michoacán said. "Part of Amodi."

"That's right. And more importantly: I'm Jason's girlfriend."

America's eyes widened.

"North Korea managed to record the conversation you had with him," Liechtenstein said. "We all have communication devices on us at all times. When we can't use cell phones. And I heard what you discussed. Attacking a micronation… Congratulations, America. You crossed a line. You're one step closer to being like us."

"No way!" America shouted. "I… I…"

"Don't make excuses!" Liechtenstein snapped. "This is the second time you've fucked up my life."

"Wow," Michoacán said. "Didn't know it was in her capacity to swear like that."

"What do you mean the second time?" America asked. "I haven't even _heard_ of you before."

"Of course…" Liechtenstein said, her voice cold and bitter. "You large countries… You don't care what happens to us little countries. You don't care that your actions have an effect on us. You just go on doing what you do, pretending as though the world belongs to you. And when a group of us fight back, you attack a micronation. A helpless micronation."

"You've been doing that too!" America snapped.

It was clear to the other three that America was starting to panic. He didn't want to accept the truth of what Liechtenstein was saying.

"Are you _really_ trying to justify yourself by saying _we're_ doing it?" Liechtenstein scoffed, a mocking laughter laced in her voice. "You sound like a little kid. 'All the other kids are doing it. Why can't I?'"

"I hate to admit it," Yemen said, "but she has a point."

"You do this," Michoacán said, "and you get mad when _we_ do it? You sowed it. Now you can reap it."

Liechtenstein was silent for a moment, and the four of them hoped that she was seeing their point, and might be feeling guilty about it. Sadly, that was not the case.

"Jason is still alive," Liechtenstein said. "But he's unconscious. There's a chance he might end up in a coma. If he dies, well… I'll make you wish that _you_ would die."

"I don't think so," Oman said. "You're Switzerland's sister, right? I've seen you. I don't think you _can_ do anything to us."

Liechtenstein chuckled – coldly, cruelly – and the other four all received a chill down their spines.

"You underestimate me," she said. "Did you _think_ that I would have been recruited if I couldn't do something for the group? Did you think that I was recruited because of _Switzerland_? Nein, oh nein. You think what we've been doing so far was bad? You think that killing the nations and chipping away at others was the worst we could do? America, you've seen North Korea. You've seen what he's willing to do for our group. And you've seen what happened when Belarus was angry. You're going to see that again, very soon. And when I'm done with you, you'd be _begging_ for death. What I'm planning to do with you would make the Holocaust seem trivial. Verstehen Sie?"

Before America could reply, the call was disconnected. The four were silent for a moment.

"What exactly happened with North Korea and Belarus?" Yemen asked.

"We captured North Korea, but it was all fake," America said. "They planned it. And they have some sort of magic or something that connects them. Love and hate. Both make them stronger. And if they're dating, and one of them is in danger… Dude, I've seen Belarus _throw_ Russia. North Korea made her stronger by breaking his own fingers and biting off his own tongue. He didn't even wince when he did that."

Oman and Yemen widened their eyes, and Yemen considered going to the bathroom yet again, but this time because he understood the implications and the threat chilled him to the bones.

 **There were two scenes that I wanted to put in this chapter, but they'll be in the next chapter due to length.**

 **And I've had the pleasure of interviewing an author in my country. It was because of an assignment, but I guess any writer gets a thrill when talking to someone who's actually gone through the process of publishing an actual book. And I managed to get in contact with another author. I think Francophones would know her: Véronique Tadjo. And her country of origin: Côte d'Ivoire. Speaking of, I'll probably show you how he's doing, now that he's away from Romania.**

 **And I** _ **loved**_ **writing Liechtenstein in this chapter. Could you just** _ **imagine**_ **her sweet voice threatening America?**


	41. Chapter 40

**Thanks to Elsa, Terra, jetblackrose9922, Eternal Nexus Warrior, ScandinavianTrash, TheSilentLilac and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 40**

The nations of Amodi that were present at Vatican's house were all gathered in the living room, with the exception of Poland, who had already gone on his next errand. Molossia was also absent, being unconscious.

Liechtenstein sat to the side, still fuming and thoughts of vengeance clear in her eyes. All of the others respectfully kept their distance.

"What are we going to do now?" San Marino asked.

"First, we'll need to tend to the other three micronations," Italy said. "There's no danger of England or Australia attacking them, but if America decided to attack… They now know that the micronations are vulnerable to their land being attacked."

Italy looked towards Liechtenstein, but she said nothing.

"I believe that it's to our advantage that you compared him to us," Italy said. "It would certainly break his spirit."

He smiled at her, and she reluctantly smiled back.

"So, we need to help our last three micros become nations," Switzerland said.

"And wait for Canada to completely conquer Nevada, and then for the transfer of land to be complete," South added. "Hopefully, we're not too late."

"If we are, America will pay," Liechtenstein said.

"Indeed," Italy said. "So… I think we're going to move ahead with our plans."

"We would also need to contact Egypt," Belarus said, looking over towards North. "He needs to be notified of the fact that both America and Turkey are close to his location."

"You're right," Italy said. "And we'll need to transport Belgium and Luxembourg to Sicily."

"They thought they could fool us by sending Netherlands to China," Belarus said, smirking. "But we have ears on all of their conversations. Over the phone, at least."

"And the internet," South pointed out. "Don't forget that."

"It would have been nice if we could have captured him with his siblings," Italy said, before he sighed. "It only caused a slight setback. Any luck finding China?"

North shook his head, and he started to tap on the coffee table in front of him, his tongue still regrowing and his fingers still a little sensitive from being broken.

 _It's as though he found a place far away from any city. A place off the beaten track, or even where there never_ was _a track beaten. A place that satellites don't even account for. He could still receive phone calls, though, which makes me think that he's using a satellite phone or something._

Italy listened carefully, and so did the others. Once North had completely stopped, Italy fixed him with a look.

"Keep searching," Italy said. "I want to launch an assault soon."

"Are we really that desperate?" Vatican asked.

"The sooner we get rid of the major powers, the sooner the rest of the world surrenders," Italy said. "North Korea, I think it's time. Operation Island is a go."

North nodded his head, a small smirk tugging at his lips. The same was happening to everyone else. Liechtenstein especially had a dark look on her face.

…

Syria was waiting, a bit impatiently, for Turkey and his companions. He felt that he had already spent too long in the same location, and he was itching to move. To get to another safe location.

He jumped when someone pounded on his door, and he grabbed his rifle, ready for an attack.

"Let us in. It's us."

Syria sighed in relief when he realised that it was Turkey. He quickly ran to the door, undoing all the locks. Finally he opened the door, and his eyes immediately took in the appearance of the four nations standing on the other side.

"What happened to you?" he asked, seeing the blood on their clothes.

"We ran into some of you-know-who's people," Turkey said. "And we decided to use them for some stress relief. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. Come in. Quickly."

They shuffled inside and Syria closed and locked the door behind them, before turning to them.

"It's bad for a nation to not feel safe in their own country," Hungary remarked.

"Yes, well…" Syria said. "So, what's your plan?"

"We're going to wait for Egypt to come to us," Turkey said. "And we'll make sure that you-know-who doesn't interfere until then."

"Do you think he's with Amodi?" Greece asked, looking at Syria with a concerned expression on his face.

"No," Syria said. "I always keep my eyes peeled on everyone at the meetings. I've seen Italy, Poland, and Egypt especially get looks of disgust whenever _he_ was mentioned."

"They could have been faking it," Cyprus pointed out.

"No. For one thing, they looked _too_ relaxed about their facial expressions. In other words, they didn't try to pass off any emotions. I saw Canada do it a lot whenever America was speaking at the meetings, or Poland with Russia and Germany. I think they're genuinely disgusted by him. And I happened to catch him after the attacks on Germany and Spain. He looked worried, and he kept saying that _he_ didn't do anything, but that he had a feeling that whoever _did_ it was bad news for him."

"So we can rule that out," Turkey said. "Would he join them, if given the chance?"

"Yes. But I don't think they'd accept them. So, where would we go if we're waiting for Egypt?"

"Your capital," Hungary said. "All nations need to return to their capital sometime. He would definitely look for you there."

"And we'll be waiting for him," Turkey said.

Syria closed his eyes and nodded.

"Then I guess it's time to go to Damascus," he said. "I just hope that everything goes well."

…

Morocco was bored. She had been worried about Amodi. She had feared torture. But they did _nothing_ to her. The only time she saw them was with mealtimes, and she had nothing to keep her occupied.

Though the screams from earlier _did_ provide _some_ form of entertainment, in a sick way.

She sighed. The next time they came to give her food, she'd ask them (nicely) to give her something to entertain herself with. They had books here, right?

…

Wales threw his cell phone on the bed, a small smirk on his face.

He quickly left the room, making his way towards the kitchen. With everything that was going on, none of his brothers would refuse a cup of tea.

…

Russia had managed to get Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia to agree to come to him for their own safety, and he was just about to call Kazakhstan when the cell phone signal suddenly cut off.

Russia felt a surge of panic, before he took a deep breath. It was probably just a storm outside. The cell phone tower he disguised as a tree was probably just a little damaged. That was all there was to it.

That was what Russia tried to convince himself.

He quickly went to his computer, hoping to access the internet. If he could access the internet, then it was only the cell phone tower that was having trouble. If not, then…

He cursed when he saw that he _couldn't_ access the internet. He then tried to use the base's system to access a few satellites.

Nothing.

He wondered if Amodi was responsible. They had said that they could shut off all communications. Was it really possible?

He thought about it. He knew that the two Koreas were pretty good with computers. How hard would it be for them to access the communications satellites? That seemed to be the most obvious explanation.

He had told the other three nations where to find him. He supposed that he would need to go to that location and wait for them to arrive. There was nothing else for him to do.

He quickly sought out Ukraine to tell her what was going on and where he was going. He knew that she would be worried, but while he was gone, _she_ would need to take charge. And he knew that when push came to shove, she was really reliable.

He wondered what Amodi hoped to achieve by cutting off communication, before the answer came to him. The humans were reliant on communication, and without it, there would most likely be anarchy.

Not to mention, the nations would have no idea what was happening elsewhere in the world. They wouldn't know about what happened to their friends or families. They wouldn't be able to trace Amodi's movements.

They would be vulnerable.

…

"Will, you're a lifesaver," Scotland sighed.

Wales smiled as he watched his brother drinking the tea, before he set off to find the others. The Ireland brothers were together, and they happily took a cup each as well.

England had returned a while ago, and Wales went to his office, where he was frantically trying to do something on the computer. As soon as he saw the tea, he took the cup and took a big gulp.

"Thanks," England said. "I needed that."

"I'm happy to help," Wales said, before leaving the room.

He had prepared a cup for Australia and New Zealand as well, but the two Oceanic nations were more hesitant to take the cups, but they still did. Wales smiled, before returning to the kitchen. On his way, he ran into Hutt River.

"What's with the tea?" Hutt River asked.

"Why don't you go check on Scotland in the living room?" Wales asked.

Hutt River frowned, before he went to the living room. Wales placed the empty tray in the kitchen and waited for Hutt River to arrive.

He didn't have to wait long, and Hutt River brought Sealand and Wy with him. All three had puzzled looks on their faces.

"The others are falling asleep," Sealand said. "What's going on?"

"Italy called me to give me the go-ahead," Wales explained. "He said I could kill them in any way I see fit."

The three micronations' eyes widened, and slowly they each started to smile.

"I wonder what changed his mind," Sealand said. "He said he wanted to wait a while. He wanted to see how they react to Operation Island."

"It's actually because of you guys," Wales said. "One of the others was attacked, and he's hurt pretty bad. They attacked his land. They're afraid that they might try their luck with you."

"Which one was attacked?" Hutt River asked, growing paler.

"I don't know," Wales said. "Italy didn't say."

Hutt River quickly left the room, and Sealand and Wy looked at each other for a moment before shifting their gazes to Wales.

"He's worried about Seborga," Wy explained. "His boyfriend would probably be the first logical choice they'd go for, being Italy's brother and all."

"I see," Wales said. "Nations can be cruel. They would do anything to make sure that they were the ones on top. Never mind all the others they step on to reach the top. England was one of the worst. He would torture his own _brothers_. Even when I tried to make myself a smaller target, he lashed out at me, probably more than he lashed out at the others." Wales chuckled sardonically. "Actually, I think I know why he did that. He was still fighting with Ireland and Scotland. And when he needed a way to relieve his stress, he turned to me."

Wales whimpered, and he brought his hand up to his face, examining the fingers. In front of his eyes, he could see burns appearing. Old wounds.

"England did this to me," Wales whispered. "First, he made sure to beat me until I could no longer fight. And then he tied my wrists in front of me. He brought closer a candle, and… One by one, he burned my fingers. And the next day, he yelled at me for being unable to do any of my chores. He called me lazy. He called me _useless_ …"

Tears started to gather in Wales's eyes. The two micronations were silent, watching and listening intently.

"I had gone to Scotland," Wales continued. "I asked for _help_. And you know what he said? 'Suck it up. You surrendered to England. You deserve everything he does to you.'"

"That's horrible," Wy said. "It's a good thing you're no longer on their side, right?"

Wales watched as the burns disappeared, and he curled his hands into fists.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Come on. Let's tie them up. We don't want any of them to wake up before we're ready."

…

Seborga was in Molossia's room, watching his friend carefully. Liechtenstein was there as well, but she paid no mind to the micronation-turning-nation. Both of them were close to Molossia – as a friend and a lover – and they were there to support him.

Seborga felt a presence behind him before a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder, and he turned to see Hutt River. The taller male immediately took him in a hug, and Seborga hugged back.

"I was so scared," Hutt River whispered. "When Wales told me that a micronation was attacked, I thought…"

"Shh," Seborga soothed, rubbing the other's back. "I'm alright."

Seborga could feel Hutt River trembling, and he waited patiently while the other recovered. Finally, Hutt River pulled away, before looking at Molossia.

"How is he?" Hutt River asked.

"He won't wake up," Liechtenstein said. "It's possible that he's in a coma."

"Did America do this?" Hutt River asked, to which Liechtenstein nodded. "What are you going to do for revenge?"

"I'll give him a taste of something Japan had gone through," Liechtenstein said. "Something that would make Chernobyl look like a Southern African earthquake."

The two shared a glance.

"Just leave enough for Canada, Molossia and Mexico when they conquer the land," Seborga said.

"I don't think they'd mind all that much, as long as I do it _before_ they conquer the land," Liechtenstein said. "And I think that this would make their jobs easier."

"Let's hope so," Hutt River said. "Anyway, I think I need to get back. Wales would probably need my help."

"How is he?" Liechtenstein asked. "He has the Bonds of hate full-force."

"He's stable, for now," Hutt River said. "I think it's because he's been given the go-ahead for his revenge. But some of his old wounds had started to reappear."

"It's going to be a _slow_ death for them. Could you maybe take a video of it? I'd like to see some good sadism."

"I'll try."

…

Egypt frowned, his phone pressed to his ear.

"I see," Egypt said. "Thanks for the warning. Have North track their movements, and I'll see which places I need to either avoid or approach. Depending on my mood."

He hung up the phone, before he turned to United Arab Emirates, who was bound and gagged, his wrists clasped like a prayer.

Wrong religion, though.

"It seems that America is gathering all of the Middle Eastern nations in order to take them to a safe location," Egypt said. "But how long before they completely lose it with him? After all, look at what he did to some of the others. Iraq being an example. Now I'm almost regretting the fact that I've killed him. The tensions it would have caused would have been _delicious_."

UAE screamed into the gag, struggling in his bonds. Egypt smirked when he saw the fear in the other's eyes.

"I also killed Iran and Saudi Arabia," Egypt said. "And now you know what fate awaits you, just in case you had any doubts. Now, shall we get started?"

…

Scotland was the first to wake up. He blearily blinked his eyes, feeling a little uncomfortable. Once his head cleared, he noticed the position he was in, along with the others.

They were all in the living room, but they were tied to the dining room chairs. He tried to remember what happened, and the only thing he could think of was that he had drank the tea that Wales had offered and had fallen asleep.

Looking around, he realised that Wales wasn't in the room with him, and he immediately had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The micronations weren't there either.

He heard a groan, and he turned to see Ireland waking up, followed by Northern Ireland. It took them a while to clear the fog, but once they did, they cried out in shock.

"What's going on?" Ireland asked.

"Don't know," Scotland said, before he turned to look at England. "Oi, Artie! Wake up! Now!"

England groaned, his eyes scrunching before opening, and Australia and New Zealand woke up soon enough as well.

"Al?" England said, his voice groggy. "What's going on?"

"Trouble," Scotland said.

They were all struggling in their bonds while trying to figure out what was going on.

"Don't bother. I did a good job of tying them."

They all froze, before they turned their attention to the doorway. There stood Wales, his green eyes colder than any of them had ever seen it before.

"Will?" England asked incredulously. "What do you think you're doing?"

Wales smirked, holding up his left hand. When the others saw the black ribbon tied around it, they immediately knew what was going on.

"How long?" Scotland asked. "How long have you been working for them?"

"Since the day you asked Italy and Canada to come. You know, when they announced the official start of World War Three."

"How?" England asked. " _Why_?"

"Where are the micronations?" Australia demanded.

As though on cue, the three of them popped out from behind Wales, lazy smirks on their faces.

"It was really fortunate you sent us out of the house that day," Sealand said. "And that you sent Wales to look after us. Italy and Poland both agreed that he would be the best candidate for the British Isles."

"A sleeping dragon, if you will," Wy said.

"How long have you three been in on this?" England asked. "And why? Don't you know the ramifications of what you're doing?"

"We've been in on this for a few years," Hutt River said coldly.

"And we may look like kids, but we're not stupid," Sealand said.

"There's something you need to know about micronations," Wy said. "We don't have a toddler stage. You know, that time in a child's life when parents try to teach them right from wrong?"

"And you don't really bother with us at the age we manifest," Hutt River said. "We're not cuddly puppies or kittens, so why would anyone want to take us in? Show us the ropes? Make us feel _wanted_?"

"I did that for you!" Australia snapped. "For both of you!"

" _You_ did," Wy said. "The others _didn't_. Isn't that right, England?"

England winced, and he looked down.

"And you also had the gall to ask me why I would join them?" Wales said. "Think about it, England. What would make me eager to join? What would make me eager to kill you?"

England swallowed, before lifting his head.

"I'm sorry, Will," England whispered.

"It's too late for sorry," Wales said. "Italy gave me the go-ahead to kill you, but he didn't specify _how_. I'm going to make you experience all the pain you made _me_ go through. Your death will be slow. Now, let's start."

 **You'll notice that how the other UK bros refer to each other by human name, while Wales refers to them by nation name. This is just to show that any compassion he had for his brothers is completely snuffed out.**

 **And I'll admit, I kind of forgot about Morocco. But she's still in Vatican's house, and she's left completely alone by Amodi.**

 **About two or three years ago South Africa had an earthquake which was around 5.5 on the Richter scale. There aren't really seismic plates around here, so we don't exactly get earthquakes. But when we do, it's usually because of mining activity. And you could clearly see which people came from mining communities, since we're used to aftershocks from the mines. The others were panicking. There was a post on 9GAG about the earthquake with a lawn chair falling over and the words 'we will rebuild'. So we rarely get earthquakes, and they're not too devastating, which is why Liechtenstein used that as a comparison. And I didn't have internet connection when writing that part, so I couldn't look up any disasters.**


	42. Chapter 41

**Thanks to Elsa, Chizu5645, Terra, pastaaddict, Toesz, jetblackrose9922, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Skye Phoenix Dove, ScandinavianTrash and Time Turner for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 41**

"Wait," Northern Ireland said. "Before you kill us, could you at least answer a few questions?"

Wales looked at his brother coldly, while Ireland looked at him with alarm.

"H-he won't _kill_ us," Ireland said, before turning to Wales. "Right?"

Wales didn't answer, but gave a small, cold smile that served to answer the question. Ireland shuddered and bowed his head.

"Are you really that curious?" Wales asked, turning to Northern Ireland. "Or are you just that dense that you can't figure anything out by yourself?"

Northern Ireland flinched. Wales turned his gaze to Australia and New Zealand.

"You two," he said, "are the only ones allowed to speak." He looked at the group at large. "If anyone else tries to say anything, well…"

Wales removed a pistol from his pocket.

"I'm told that the bullets were designed to hurt and kill nations," Wales said. "It was a gift from Amodi. I won't kill you immediately, but you will _beg_ me to kill you when I'm through with you. But keep quiet, and there won't be any issues."

No one said anything, and Wales turned his attention to Australia and New Zealand again.

"So, is there anything the two of you would like to ask?" Wales asked.

The two Oceanic nations looked towards each other. They both knew that they needed to stall. Wales had every intention to kill them all, but before he would kill them, he was going to torture them first. And they didn't know whether or not they would be tortured as well. Wales's anger seemed to be directed at his brothers, but how much of that anger would be directed towards the two of them?

"W-well…" New Zealand started, before his eyes shifted over towards the micronations. "How exactly did you three get involved?"

"Simple," Hutt River said. "They offered to let us become nations. All we had to do was act as spies, and in case of emergency go the extra mile."

"What does _that_ mean?" Australia asked.

"Aeterna Lucina, Atlantium, Avram, Bumbunga, Murrawarri and Rainbow Creek are all dead," Wy said. "After Michoacán showed up, we micros got the order to kill other micros and states. We'd sometimes pop in and out of here. You didn't notice."

"You also didn't notice that they were gone," Hutt River said coldly.

Australia's eyes had widened, and a look of guilt slowly crossed his face. New Zealand swallowed nervously, looking towards Wales.

"How exactly did they get you on board?" New Zealand asked.

"By reminding me about the past," Wales said, before glancing towards England.

England scowled.

"I'm sorry about that," England said, "but the past is the past. You can't let them…"

There was a _bang_ , followed by England's pained scream. Wales had the firearm directed towards him, and there was blood gushing from England's leg.

"Didn't I warn you?" Wales asked coldly.

"But you're being manipulated!" Northern Ireland beseeched.

Wales directed the pistol towards Northern Ireland, but he was looking at Scotland, who looked as though the gears in his mind were turning wildly.

"I know what you're thinking," Wales said, smirking. "That I'd run out of ammo. And that it would give you time to wriggle free. But I have bad news for you."

Wales looked back towards the micronations, and Sealand stepped back, revealing a black case. Hutt River crouched down and opened the case, before showing the contents. More ammunition.

"I stopped by at home base and picked these up," Hutt River said. "Along with the gun."

"And as for Wales being manipulated…" Wy said. "See, he's bound by hatred. And the way those Bonds work is that they combine the hate of everyone connected to it. And it's constantly bringing up the past. And the Bonds mean that, even if they're aware of the manipulation, they don't care."

"And no one in Amodi does what they don't want to do," Sealand said.

At the revelation, everyone turned their attentions to Wales, who had a neutral expression on his face. He turned his attention to Australia.

"You've been pretty quiet," Wales said. "Don't you have any questions?"

It was subtle, but Wales moved his hand holding the gun, and it was a statement that if there was nothing else then he would start the torture. It was unclear whether or not he _wanted_ to stall, or if he enjoyed being the centre of attention.

Enjoyed having everything out in the open. For once, letting all his frustration and pain be made known. Showing that he felt nothing more for his brothers.

"Okay," Australia said, swallowing nervously. "When you were hurt when Amodi stormed the other base… You were faking, obviously. But how'd you get those wounds?"

"South Korea slammed me into a tree," Wales said, shrugging. "It was part of the plan. It didn't hurt that much. France was right about the Bonds making us stronger."

"And on that note," Australia said, glancing towards the micronations, "what is binding you?"

"Desire," the three said, showing their right wrists with the yellow ribbon wrapped around them.

"The frog neglected that one," England muttered.

Wales cocked the gun, before aiming it at England. England's eyes widened briefly and there was another shot, followed by England screaming as the other leg was shot.

"I told you not to speak," Wales said. "Typical England."

It didn't escape their notice that he addressed him as 'England' and not 'Arthur', like he normally would. This only made them more worried.

"I don't think France knew about it," Sealand mused. "I mean, it was discovered long after Rome, so Rome couldn't have told France."

"And Italy told Portugal," Hutt River said. "Probably. I think Marcello said something about Portugal being reined in by his desire to protect his former colonies. Oh yeah…"

A red ribbon appeared around Hutt River's hand, and Australia's eyes widened.

"You're seeing someone?!" Australia asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You would have figured out our connection with Amodi earlier," Wy said. "After all, who would be a bigger clue than Italy's little brother?"

"Seborga?" New Zealand asked. "You're seeing Seborga?"

Scotland, Ireland and England shot him a look, but Northern Ireland had a look of understanding on his face. New Zealand was stalling, or at least delaying the inevitable. Wales noticed this as well, but said nothing. He turned his attention to Australia.

"Any other questions?" Wales asked.

"Yeah," Australia said. "The fact that we can't call anyone… You guys are somehow responsible, aren't you?"

"Operation Island," Sealand said. "All communications satellites are shut off, completely isolating everyone from the rest of the world. It's like being stranded on an island. Communications here were shut off first because America found out about the micronations' involvement in Amodi, and we couldn't have him blowing our cover."

"How?" New Zealand asked.

"North Korea took the opportunity to mess around a little before escaping," Hutt River said. "He's an expert in technology. He also used those years in isolation wisely."

"But, aren't _you_ cut off as well?" Northern Ireland asked.

Wales glared at Northern Ireland, and the other flinched while muttering a 'sorry'.

"We figured out a way to work around it," Wy said. "Setting up our own satellites, of course, and also adjusting the software of our phones, and creating a backdoor for the networks, etcetera."

"And another thing," Australia said. "What's happening in the rest of the world?"

Wales glanced towards the micronations, and they stepped closer.

"Well," Hutt River began, "France and Austria are dead."

"What?!" England and Scotland exclaimed.

Wales glared at England and Scotland, and the two reluctantly quieted down.

"Belgium and Luxembourg have also been captured," Sealand continued. "And… Oh yeah. Everyone else figured out that a nation that's been conquered by Amodi can't escape or else they'd die. You guys helped send Madagascar to her death."

"And?" Australia asked, looking worried.

"I think that's basically that," Wy said. "Other than Operation Island being global now."

"So if there are no more questions," Wales said, looking towards Australia and New Zealand, "we can begin."

"Wait," New Zealand said. "I know that you have a score to settle with England and the others. But… what about the two of us?"

"Australia's land is needed to give to Hutt River and Wy," Wales said. "As for you… be good, and I'll keep you alive. Now, I'm bored. No more questions. It's time for the fun to begin."

…

Côte d'Ivoire groaned when the doorbell rang, and with some difficulty he made his way to the front door. He was somewhat grateful to Romania for healing him after the last torture session and before dropping him off at his own country, but he was still stiff and sore.

He opened the door and groaned when he saw Libya on the other side. Libya didn't seem too bothered and invited himself inside his home.

"To what do I owe this _pleasure_?" Côte d'Ivoire asked.

"If I were a European, I would lecture you about your tone," Libya said. "However, I am not France. I understand that you're not happy with your situation, and still in pain. So I'll forgive your tone. But perhaps the next time one of us arrives at your door you wouldn't be so lucky."

Côte d'Ivoire shuddered at the subtle threat. He also wasn't foolish. He knew that Amodi tried to convince them that they were nothing like their former colonisers, but Côte d'Ivoire's experience with Romania showed him otherwise. They weren't just in it for the power that having an empire would bring, but their power over the individual nations. And they weren't afraid of genocide. So the fact that they kept them alive made Côte d'Ivoire a little nervous and suspicious.

"What do you want?" Côte d'Ivoire asked tiredly.

"That's better," Libya said. "Forgivable."

Libya removed a cell phone from his pocket and threw it towards Côte d'Ivoire. The latter caught it and stared at the phone.

"I have one," Côte d'Ivoire said.

"Won't work anymore," Libya said. "All satellites are down, except for ours. In case we have something we need you to do, we'll contact you through this phone. And don't even bother trying to call anyone else. None of their old numbers will work."

Côte d'Ivoire wasn't exactly impressed to hear that he couldn't communicate with anyone, but he wasn't exactly upset. He knew that he was the reason why nine other nations had condemned themselves to servitude under Amodi. And he felt extremely guilty about it. He hadn't notified anyone of his return yet, especially not the others who had walked out on the African Union meeting that day. He hadn't been able to face them, even though it was only through the phone.

"One more thing," Libya said, pulling a small bottle from his other pocket.

This time he _gave_ the bottle to Côte d'Ivoire, who eyed it with apprehension.

"It's water," Libya explained. "Drink."

Côte d'Ivoire hesitated for another moment, but he didn't want to test the other's patience, and so he took a sip from the bottle.

"What water is this?" Côte d'Ivoire asked.

"Your country's tap water," Libya explained.

Côte d'Ivoire's eyes widened, and he stared at the bottle in surprise.

"The first thing we decided to work on is clean drinking water," Libya explained. "We're doing it for the entire continent."

"And where are you getting the money for it?" Côte d'Ivoire asked suspiciously.

"Our own supplies. We're also working on ensuring that all basic necessities are free of charge. We're doing what the Europeans should have done ages ago: care for the people, and not care about money or weapons."

Côte d'Ivoire knew what they were doing. They were trying to show them that life was better under their rule. That they needn't have to worry about anything. Côte d'Ivoire wasn't fooled, but he didn't mind taking advantage of it.

"Thanks," Côte d'Ivoire said.

Libya gave a small smile, before he made his way to the door. Before he could leave he stopped, turning back to Côte d'Ivoire.

"One last thing," Libya said. "France is dead."

Côte d'Ivoire's eyes widened, and Libya let himself out without another word. Côte d'Ivoire made his way to the living room and collapsed on a chair.

France had been arrogant and a snob, and he was flighty and a bit perverse at times, but Côte d'Ivoire didn't want him _dead_. There were times when France showed his caring side towards his colonies, and he acted like the big brother he insisted he was. He had been a constant in Côte d'Ivoire's life. And now…

Côte d'Ivoire was surprised when he realised that he had started crying, but once he became aware of them the tears wouldn't stop. A nation that he had regarded as powerful was dead, and the death had been announced so casually. As though France had been nothing, and they could do it again.

And they would. Côte d'Ivoire was sure of it. They would kill anyone that crossed their path. And the nations under their control… they could kill them at any time.

Côte d'Ivoire understood now how humans must feel. The fear that they could be killed by a higher power – like a government – at any time, and their willingness to do anything to prevent that from coming to pass. He also understood the fear humans feel when a friend or loved one went to fight in a war. He understood the fear of not seeing anyone he knew again.

He realised that he wouldn't be able to receive news from anyone, unless the nations of Amodi decided that they would give it to them. For all he knew, all of his friends could be dead, and he wouldn't be able to confirm or deny it.

This war wasn't as bad for the humans as it was for the nations, because this time the choices made were made by nations, and it was the nations that were targeted. The nations were the ones being killed.

Never before had Côte d'Ivoire experienced this much fear. And never before had he felt fear for his life or the lives off his fellow nations. Because for the first time, they were as helpless as humans. Perhaps even more.

…

White, Belgium and Luxembourg turned their attentions to the door when it opened, and they were unhappy to see Italy enter.

"You two," he said, pointing at Belgium and Luxembourg, "will be going to a new location. And _you_ …" he looked at White. "Well, you'll be getting a surprise soon."

White paled, and Belgium squeezed her shoulder.

"What are you going to do to us?" Luxembourg asked.

Italy rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You two are going to our base in Sicily," Italy said. "But a surprise is a surprise. Don't worry." He smiled at White. "You'll like it."

"Forgive me for being sceptical," White said, narrowing her eyes.

Italy smirked, before gesturing to Belgium and Luxembourg that they should follow him. The two gave White one last look before following Italy.

Once she was alone, White slumped on the bed. She had no interest in reading the history books anymore, and she wasn't interested in watching a children's show at the moment, so she tried to think of something else to occupy her time. Without conscious thought, her mouth started moving.

" _Uit hierdie Valkenburg het ek ontvlug  
en dink my nou in Gordonsbaai terug:  
Ek speel met paddavisse in 'n stroom  
en kerf swastikas in 'n rooikransboom  
Ek is die hond wat op die strande draf  
en dom-allenig teen die aandwind blaf  
Ek is die seevoël wat verhongerd daal  
en dooie nagte opdis as 'n maal  
Die god wat jou geskep het uit die wind  
sodat my smart in jou volmaaktheid vind:  
My lyk lê uitgespoel in wier en gras  
op al die plekke waar ons eenmaal was._"

She sighed, before the door opened again. She glanced towards the door and smiled, sitting upright when she saw Israel.

"Are you happy to see me?" Israel asked teasingly.

"Ja," she said. "So, what's going on in the world outside?"

Israel's face dropped, and White immediately grew concerned.

"They killed England," Israel said.

White was speechless, and her eyes fell on the stack of history books sitting in the corner. She felt laughter bubble up, and Israel looked at her oddly.

"A hundred years ago I would have given _anything_ to see that happen," she said. "Now… I don't know how I should feel."

The laughter was hysterical, but it had escaped nonetheless. Israel went to sit next to her on the bed.

"They also told me that they're letting you go," Israel said. "And they're letting me go as well. I'm to take you to the airport right now."

Her eyes widened and she squealed in delight before throwing her arms around Israel's neck. Could that be the surprise Italy was referring to?

Israel smiled as he returned her hug.

"So," he said, "is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

She immediately knew the answer.

"Gordonsbaai," she said. "Uit hierdie Valkenburg sal ek ontvlug."

…

Wales took a break, putting down the knife that he had been using for his current _game_ with his brothers. The others certainly looked worse for wear, and the only ones that were blood-free were Australia and New Zealand, who Wales had to gag in order to concentrate on the job at hand.

England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland were covered in cuts, bruises, bullet wounds and burns. They had no idea how much longer Wales intended to torture them, but they knew that they couldn't take much more.

"Please," Northern Ireland said. "Just finish this already."

Wales smirked, picking up the pistol again. The others whimpered at the sight. Wales ignored the majority and walked over towards Northern Ireland, pressing the barrel beneath his chin.

"You're the youngest," Wales said. "The one I have the least reason to hate. Because of that, I'm going to grant your wish. How do you want to die?"

"No!" Ireland shouted, struggling in his bonds.

Scotland and England had also started shouting and struggling, but Wales ignored them. He had a gentle smile on his face, and he once again resembled the Wales that they remembered.

Northern Ireland swallowed and closed his eyes.

"I don't care," he whispered. "Just make it quick."

"No," Ireland said. "Will! Patrick!"

"As you wish," Wales said, before he moved the pistol so that it was against the other's forehead.

There was a _bang_ , and Northern Ireland fell backwards in the chair, hitting his head hard against the floor. But that didn't matter.

He was dead before he touched the ground.

 **Sorry it's a bit late. I was a little busy studying for GAG tests (our equivalent of midterms) and Friday night I was dragged by my family to watch the orchestra, and Saturday I had my cousin's wedding to attend, and I had to finish my reading for French,** _ **and**_ **I had an essay to complete for Afrikaans. So it was a bit busy.**

 **The poem that White was reciting is** _ **Ontvlugting**_ **by Ingrid Jonker, which in English is** _ **Escape**_ **. Valkenburg (in the first line) was a psychiatric hospital where Jonker's mother died, and she herself was a patient years after the poem was written. White said: "from this Valkenburg I will escape", and it makes sense to associate Amodi with a prison or even a psychiatric hospital. And the second to last line made me get the shivers. "My lyk lê uitgespoel" means "my corpse lies washed ashore". Jonker committed suicide by walking into the ocean, and her corpse was found washed up. She died in 1965. This poem was published 1956.**

 **And Israel told White about England's death, even though he's still alive, partly to see her reaction, and partly to push her in a direction that Amodi wants.**

 **And just to clarify, the micronations are paired off as follows: MolossiaXLiechtenstein and SeborgaXHutt River. The others aren't paired off at all. They're kids. They wouldn't know anything about love yet.**


	43. Chapter 42

**Thanks to Terra, shoujochan, Jinx13GXA, pastaaddict, Eternal Nexus Warrior, ScandinavianTrash and Toesz for reviewing. 400 reviews, guys. Thank you.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 42**

The room was silent as they stared at Northern Ireland's body. Wales shrugged, before he made his way to the kitchen.

Ireland was the first to snap out of the trance. He screamed in absolute anguish.

"Patrick!" Ireland shouted, his struggles renewing.

England and Scotland remained silent, though they stared at each other in horror. They couldn't believe that Wales, who had always been the gentle brother, would do something like that. They knew that Wales's gentle nature wasn't an act. He didn't pretend for centuries like Italy, Poland, India, Canada, Egypt, and all the other nations of Amodi. He had been a genuinely kind and caring soul. But now all kindness and compassion were gone.

England was reminded again of all that he had done to Wales. Wales wasn't as ruthless as England and Scotland were, but he was still a warrior, like him. One with the ferocity of a dragon. But after everything that England had done, Wales became quiet, and he had tried to ease the souls of all those around him. The dragon had gone to sleep.

But now the dragon was awake, and it had every intention of repaying those that had wronged it.

New Zealand and Australia averted their eyes, tears streaming from them. They had always liked Wales – Australia even had a state named after him – and seeing him like this was simply painful.

The micronations stared at all of this in grim fascination. Hutt River was even recording it all with his phone. None of the nations could stand looking at the micronations. Their ideas that the micronations were innocent souls were shattered.

Wales returned with the kettle. They could clearly see that it was filled to the brim, and the steam revealed that the water was boiling. It terrified them to see that Wales carried it with ease.

"W-what are you going to do with that?" Scotland asked, eying the kettle worriedly.

Wales ignored him and turned his attention to Ireland.

"You spent a lot of time with White South Africa, correct?" Wales asked.

"What about it?" Ireland asked defensively, his face wet with tears.

"What was it she called England?"

"You need to be more specific."

"Think of a colour."

Ireland closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Redneck," he said.

"Why?" Wales asked.

"Two main reasons. The first is because of the English military coats. And the fact that they had high collars. And the second is because they…"

Ireland's eyes widened in realisation, and Wales arched an eyebrow.

"Yes?" he prompted.

Ireland swallowed nervously.

"They weren't used to the African sun," Ireland continued. "And they… they had sunburn. Particularly in the neck."

Wales smirked, moving in behind England, who had gone a few shades pale.

"Why don't we relive that time?" Wales asked.

England screamed in agony as Wales poured the boiling water down his neck.

…

Canada knocked on Mexico's door, a little tired from the trip. It took a while, but he had managed to redirect all Canadians in Nevada, ordering them to take control of the state. But with the high number of American soldiers, it had become difficult, and sneak attacks weren't as effective anymore.

The door was opened by Confederacy, and she took a moment to recognise Canada, before she stepped aside to allow him entry.

Canada smiled brightly at her before entering, going towards the living room, where Mexico was flicking through the channels.

"Everything is static," Mexico said. "Why?"

"We cut off access to all the satellites in the world," Canada explained. "The only ones that still work are our own satellites."

Mexico sighed, before she turned her attention to Canada.

"Why exactly did you come here?" Mexico asked.

Canada beamed.

"I came to set up your phones so that you can contact us," Canada said. "I can also help you watch TV, if you want."

…

She stared at the sunset, seeing the city below. The city that had been partially destroyed in an effort to bring its nation to his knees.

She heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn to look. She already knew who it would be.

"Hola, hermano," she said. "What took you so long?"

"Communication's been cut off," the other said. "Luckily, Picardy still has access to all of the Pierres."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he'd join us."

"Good. And… others?"

"America has a lot of states, but they're being hunted down and killed, one by one. It would be too risky to look to America for help. And Michoacán is _with_ America. Micronations are also being killed."

"They're paranoid."

"Well, what did you expect, Catalonia? With people like us and all…"

Catalonia sighed, before she turned to Basque.

"We need to find others," she said. "Amodi can predict the moves of all the nations. They can't predict _our_ moves."

"Right," Basque said. "After all, Spain didn't even tell Romano about us. I've never been so… grateful to him before."

"I know what you mean. Come on. The resistance is starting. I can't wait to see their reactions."

"Si. Do you think they'll be confused?"

"I'm hoping for it."

…

Netherlands grew concerned. It had been a while since he had seen any of the Asian nations, and he was starting to think that something had happened. So he started searching for them.

He eventually found them outside, and he was a little surprised to see what was going on.

China appeared to be teaching some sort of… dance to Taiwan, while Japan and Thailand were sparring. Vietnam appeared to be stretching.

"What's going on?" Netherlands asked.

The Asians all stopped what they were doing and turned to him.

"We're training," Thailand explained. "In the event that Amodi decide to come after us, it helps to be a little prepared."

"We're hoping that since everyone has grown used to conventional weapons, they would be caught off-guard when we fight hand-to-hand," Vietnam continued.

"The only problem is the Koreas," Taiwan sighed. "They have Taekwondo, and they might be expecting it."

Netherlands nodded, before turning to China.

"What was that you were just doing?" Netherlands asked. "It seemed too slow to be a type of combat."

"Tai Chi," China said. "For recreational purposes, it's meant to be slow. It's about controlling the energy flow in your body. But it's still a martial art, and once you speed it up, it's more than effective."

Netherlands nodded, before turning to Japan.

"And what were you doing?" Netherlands asked.

"Jujitsu," Japan said. "While not as good as Brazil, Thailand-san makes a good sparring partner."

Netherlands nodded his head.

"Could you teach me some of that?" he asked. "Like you said, it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"Of course," Vietnam said. "Which style would you like to begin with?"

…

America's group was silent, trying to figure out what exactly Liechtenstein meant when she said she would make the Holocaust seem trivial. They were also trying to figure out what Amodi could do that would be _worse_ than whatever they had been doing so far.

Oman and Yemen were also reconsidering joining America, since he had incurred Liechtenstein's wrath. But they remained quiet about it for now because they had no idea how much of a threat Liechtenstein actually _was._

America sighed, and the others all turned their attention towards him.

"They're taking over Nevada," America explained. "I guess that's how they're going about trying to save Molossia." He chuckled bitterly. "She's right. I'm no hero. Look what I did to a micronation. I stooped down to their level."

"They're messing with your mind," Yemen said. "You see yourself as a hero. As the one that brings 'freedom' to all. But that's not the case. I'm sure that Afghanistan and Iraq would agree."

America glared at him, and Oman decided to continue where Yemen left off.

"You have a tendency to look down on other nations," Oman said. "You also think that all your actions are justified, in spite of what others have to say about it. Liechtenstein appears to be the first one to make you see what all the other nations see."

"No nation can claim that their hands are clean," Michoacán said. "Not even me, and I'm not even a nation. Yet. Think of all the things you've done in World War Two, for example."

"Hey, I didn't do _nearly_ as much as Germany," America defended.

"Really?" Yemen asked. "You're the victor, right? Now, what does the victor do to the history books?"

"Writes them," Oman said. "You expect us to believe that you were honourable and noble during… _any_ of your wars? We've all been there. This is a war unlike any other. And if we have to abandon our morals, then so be it."

"I don't know about you," Michoacán said, "but I don't want to live in a world that's been completely overrun by those assholes."

"You're right," America said. "So, who's the next nation we should get?"

"The closest would be UAE," Yemen said. "I've been trying to call him, but… Well, looks like Amodi went through with their threat to cut off all communication."

"Damn," America said. "So we won't even know if he's alive or dead."

"We'll know when we get there," Michoacán said.

…

He was alone in the darkness. He didn't know how long he was there, nor what was going on in the world. He didn't even know what was happening to his people.

His blond hair reached his chest, matted with filth as it hadn't been washed in years. He was so thin, practically skin and bone. His thin wrists were bound by cuffs, connecting him to the wall. His breathing was ragged, occasionally interrupted by dry coughs.

He cursed his immortality. He had died of hunger and thirst far too many times to count. He had been kept alive solely for the purpose of leading others astray. Because nothing made a nation look less threatening than separatism.

A separatist movement made it seem as though a nation wasn't getting ready for war – they were too busy dealing with their own problems to try to invade another. They weren't a threat, and another nation could use it to their advantage.

He wondered when it would all be over. When Canada would come to end his misery for the last time. Because Quebec couldn't take it anymore.

…

Brazil sighed, on his way outside. He needed to soak in the sunlight, even if it would set soon. It had been too long.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Brazil froze, before he slowly turned around. India was standing behind him, arms crossed, but a lazy expression on his face.

"I-I," Brazil stuttered. "I-I j-just w-want t-to g-get s-some s-sun."

India smirked, and he walked closer. Brazil averted his eyes, not wanting to look at his former friend.

"You should have asked Lovino or me," India said. "And I'm sure the others would be more than happy to join you. So would I, for that matter. We've all got warm climates, don't we?"

Brazil swallowed nervously, and India grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," India said. "We're _friends_ , aren't we?"

"Friends?" Brazil repeated. "You took us all for a ride. Me, Russia, China and South Africa… And how many others?"

"Most of the world," India said, shrugging.

"How can you live with yourself?"

The grip on his chin was relinquished, only to be moved to his neck. Brazil's eyes widened as India slammed him against a nearby wall, tightening his grip slightly.

"In case you weren't aware," India said, "I was the one that _everyone_ decided to invade, while I never did that myself. You get _sick_ of it. And I've been around long enough to see nations come and go. So I didn't get _too_ attached, knowing that they would eventually fade away. Or they would decide to go to war with me. The only exceptions are the other nations of Amodi."

"How can you be so sure?" Brazil asked.

"The Bonds," India explained. "You can't betray one of us without it all coming back to you."

"Perhaps we should demonstrate," Romano said.

Brazil's eyes widened. When did Romano get there?

India chuckled, glancing over towards Romano.

"That's a great idea," India said, before turning back to Brazil. "So, would you mind answering a little question?"

"What?" Brazil asked.

"Is there someone you like?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Is there someone you like? Romantically?"

Brazil blushed, before averting his eyes. Romano came closer, a smirk growing on his face.

"We can help you be together," Romano said. "So, why don't you tell us?"

Brazil swallowed nervously, before lifting his head.

"I… I might like…"

The other two waited patiently, and Brazil averted his eyes again.

"Come on," Romano said. "Don't be shy."

"I… South Africa," Brazil said.

To his confusion, the smirks disappeared from the other two's faces, and they shared a look.

"Damn," Romano said. "Of all the… You better get over that one."

"W-why?" Brazil whimpered. "Is… Is she dead?"

"No," India said. "She's one of the strongest African nations, right after our African allies. She has many resources for us to use. She has nuclear knowledge. We can't _afford_ to kill her."

"But she needs to be with someone else," Romano said. "So forget about her."

Brazil stared at them with wide eyes.

"You… You're playing with her heart, aren't you?" he asked.

"We're just nudging them back together," Romano said, shrugging.

"'Back' together? Are… are you telling me that they used to be…?"

"Yes," India said. "And he's a valuable asset as well. One that we didn't even _need_ to manipulate into joining."

"Join… So, you got him out of his own free will?"

"Yes," Romano said. "Now, this discussion is over."

"No, it isn't. She'll never fall for it."

"There's a little thing called 'Stockholm syndrome'," India said. "And according to the others, she's been diagnosed."

Brazil widened his eyes, and the other two smirked. India released his throat, and Brazil slid down to the floor.

"We've got more important things to worry about now," Romano said. "Veneziano called. Two more prisoners will be joining us."

"Sure," India said, before he kissed Romano on the cheek. He looked back down to Brazil. "Love. One of the most beautiful things, but one of the most painful as well."

The two left Brazil then, and the tears that were threatening to fall finally did. He felt as though his heart had been ripped in two.

He looked down at his right hand, somewhat thankful that Portugal had showed them how to display the threads. A red thread was tied there, and he could see that the end was frayed. The tears fell harder as the thread started to disappear without him meaning for it to.

…

Poland was on a plane, tapping his fingers against his knee impatiently. He had waited for _years_ to be able to kill this nation, and finally he had the chance.

It was also a great start to Central Asia, which would become their territory soon enough.

…

Italy was on his way to San Marino's office. He wanted to know if anyone else had made contact yet.

He noticed that the door was slightly ajar, and he pushed it open. His eyes widened when he was met with the sight on the other side.

"What the hell?!"

San Marino and Vatican pulled apart, their faces red. Italy stared at them with his mouth hanging open.

"Y-you…" he stuttered.

"D-don't you knock?" San Marino asked.

Italy shook his head, and stared at the other two.

"H-how long?" Italy asked.

The other two exchanged a look before looking towards him sheepishly.

"S-since World War Two," Vatican said.

Italy shook his head, looking as though he was trying to process what was happening.

"That explains the stronger Bond," Italy muttered. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Do we need to answer that, fratello?" Vatican asked.

Italy shook his head, before he placed the heel of his hand against his forehead.

"At least I know now for a _fact_ that you didn't believe the stuff you always preach," Italy said. "Two taboos in one. Whatever. Did anyone call?"

"N-no," San Marino said.

"Okay. I… I guess you can continue with what you're doing. Just… Close the door all the way next time, _please_."

San Marino chuckled nervously.

"I guess I know now what it's like, huh?" San Marino said. "Getting cosy with your lover when your brother walks in."

Italy spun around, closing the door. He started to make his way towards the basement. He ran into Seborga along the way, who looked confused.

"What was that yelling just now?" Seborga asked.

"I walked in on Angelo and Carlino making out," Italy said.

"W-wait. Y-you mean… _Them_?"

"There's vodka in the basement. I need something stronger than wine."

"…I think I'll join you."

Italy didn't argue. He was thinking about whether or not to tell Romano.

…

England was panting in pain, Scotland was wheezing, and Ireland was trembling. Wales looked between his brothers, before his eyes fell on the corpse of Northern Ireland, which was still lying where it had fallen, bound to the chair.

"I think he's lonely," Wales said. "Someone needs to join him."

The others didn't say a word as Wales walked over towards Ireland, who slowly looked up to see his brother.

"Ready to unify Ireland?" Wales asked cheerfully.

"Bastard," Scotland spat. "No matter what we've done to you, _this_ is taking it too far."

Wales ignored him, staring intently at Ireland, who averted his eyes. He was no longer trembling purely from pain, but fear as well.

"Rip out the heart, right?" Wales asked. "And destroy it?"

"Taking a bite out of it adds extra insurance," Wy said.

Wales looked over towards her, smiling and nodding thankfully. He turned back to Ireland and removed a knife from his pocket.

Ireland closed his eyes as Wales tilted his head backwards, until his chest was exposed. And he plunged the knife into the skin.

 **Afrikaners call Englishmen 'rooinek' (redneck) because of the reasons listed above. It's not meant to be offensive, but it's a lot more uncommon than 'soutie' (salty). And Ireland is actually closest to South Africa out of the British Isles. During the Boer War, a lot of the foreign volunteers were Irish, and in the earlier part of the 20** **th** **century South Africa and Ireland were described as the 'troublesome colonies'. And South Africa used to be a British colony, which was why she would be brought up among them.**

 **And things can't always go smoothly for Amodi. A small resistance is on the rise. I've also been asked about Quebec. Basque sounds masculine, while Catalonia sounds feminine.**

 **My hostel once arranged a 'bonding bootcamp', and that was in the form of self-defence classes. The martial art we were taught is Brazilian jujitsu, which is why I had Japan comment having Brazil as a sparring partner. I've also done some Tai Chi, and while it is traditionally done slowly, it is still a martial art, and if you speed it up it's evident.**

 **Historically speaking, Israel/South Africa makes a lot of sense, but I personally ship Brazil/South Africa. The two are actually pretty close, being BRICS nations and IBSA nations, but Brazil also helped the South African army with training. And they both have Dutch and Portuguese influence, with Dutch being dominant in South Africa and Portuguese dominant in Brazil. The Netherlands started the South African colony after their Brazilian colony was swallowed up by Portugal, and the Portuguese had an outpost in South Africa, and also discovered it. So, if you guys want to see another love triangle let me know.**

 **And I wanted to add a twist to the running gag of San Marino walking in on Italy and Poland by having** _ **Italy**_ **walk in on San Marino. To add** _ **more**_ **of a twist, the one San Marino was with was their** _ **brother**_ **, Vatican, which adds yet another twist. Can anyone blame Italy for wanting to drink away the shock?**


	44. Chapter 43

**Thanks to Terra, Olivia, Eternal Nexus Warrior, magicflyingmintbunnies, Jinx13GXA, ScandinavianTrash, Myrna Maeve, Toesz, TheSilentLilac and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 43**

"Bastard," England muttered.

Wales shrugged, blood dripping down his chin. He had done what Wy had suggested and had taken a bite out of Ireland's heart.

"It's not that bad," Wales mused, looking at the heart in his hand.

"If you want to turn cannibal, I suggest you have a word with the South Americans," Sealand said.

"Will," Scotland said, glancing nervously towards the two Oceanic nations. "What are you going to do to _them_? They've done _nothing_ to you."

"True," Wales said, before looking towards the micronations. "Any idea what you're going to do with them?"

"Well…" Hutt River said, cocking his head to the side. "We've been thinking about it. While it's certainly _safer_ …"

"Australia _did_ treat us better than some of the other nations treated their micros," Wy finished. "I mean, America launched an attack on Molossia."

"The only micronation that can say that he's had it better than us in our group is Marcello. So…"

Hutt River smirked, and he pulled two vials out of his pocket. The contents were a strange shade of blue.

"Consider this an act of mercy," Hutt River said, walking over towards Australia.

"W-what's in that?" England asked, his eyes wide.

"A little potion our group's discovered a long time ago," Sealand said. "A nation that ingests this will lose their status as a nation. Think of Prussia after he was dissolved. Not a nation anymore, but you certainly live longer than a human."

Australia's eyes widened, and he shook his head, even when Hutt River removed the gag.

"No!" Australia shouted. "I don't…"

"It's either you drink _this_ ," Hutt River said, "or you die. What will it be, Jett?"

Australia whimpered, before he glanced at the corpses of the Irish brothers. He swallowed nervously, before opening his mouth.

Hutt River smirked as he opened the vial, pouring the contents in Australia's mouth, who swallowed obediently.

"There will be some slight discomfort at first," Hutt River said, "but it won't last too long."

Hutt River then moved over towards New Zealand. He removed the gag, and New Zealand opened his mouth obediently.

"That's a good boy," Wales said, before he turned to Scotland and England. "And I think break time is over. Let's get back to work."

…

Argentina sighed as she led the other three through the Sicilian airport. Her trip was almost over. She would be rid of the three Caribbean nations, and then she could get to work on the other Caribbeans.

"Tina!"

Hearing her nickname, she spun around, and she smirked when she saw South Korea and Switzerland, and accompanying them was Belgium and Luxembourg, whose eyes widened when they saw the nations with the South American.

"Transferring of prisoners?" she asked.

"Yes," Switzerland said, glancing over the other two Europeans. "I believe we should travel together. It would certainly minimize the risks."

"Si," she said, glancing towards her own prisoners before turning her attention back to Switzerland. "So, what are you doing after this?"

"We'll start chipping away at Asia," South said. "We're letting Philippines have the ASEAN nations. We need to start wearing down China and Japan, anyway."

"True," Argentina said, nodding her head.

The group started walking together, with Switzerland and South in the front, Argentina in the back, and their prisoners in the middle.

"Why don't we try escaping?" Belgium whispered. "I mean, there's more of us than them."

"Because Argentina is a good shot," Aruba said. "If we try anything, she won't hesitate to open fire."

Belgium winced, her hand trailing towards her recent bullet wound.

" _Would_ she?" Luxembourg asked. "This is a public place, after all."

"It seems you've forgotten how we do things," Switzerland said, having heard their conversation. The others jumped in alarm. "All of our people are under our control."

"The Italians won't flinch if we were to open fire," South said. "All because we're nations of Amodi. They know our faces. They know not to impede our actions."

"And if we were to open fire," Argentina said, "they'd help _us_."

The prisoners looked around them in worry, and they could indeed see a few of the people saluting the Amodi nations, though they didn't return the gesture. They became aware of the fact that they were officially outnumbered – that they were _deep_ behind enemy lines.

…

Malaysia was breathing shallowly, each deep breath bringing forth a new wave of pain.

He felt that Philippines's approach was a little too harsh. And he could feel the Malaysian soldiers trying to fight back, but they were no match for the Filipino army. How did she get her soldiers so strong anyway?

He heard a door slam and he flinched. As he heard approaching footsteps he started to tremble in fear, before Philippines showed up again with a smirk on her face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked mockingly.

"Bitch," Malaysia spat.

"That bad, huh?"

"I don't care if you kill me, just leave my people alone."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Italy said that I should completely wipe out the populations of whoever he tells me to kill. Something about needing blank slates."

Malaysia's eyes widened.

"N-no," he whimpered.

"Do you want to know how my army has an advantage over yours?" she asked. "It's all about communication. Your people lack it."

"That's ridiculous!"

"No, they _actually_ lack it. Italy cut off all communications for everyone except Amodi nations. On the plane coming here, I was left a cell phone to get in contact with everyone."

Malaysia stared at her in horror. If no one could get in contact with anyone… How long would it take before anyone found out about what happened to him?

He already knew the answer: when it was already too late.

…

"Keep your guard up," Michoacán said, glancing around.

"No need to tell _me_ twice," America said, looking around as well.

They were walking through the streets of Abu Dhabi, on their way to the residence of United Arab Emirates. And the people were looking at America and Michoacán with wary eyes, seeing as they were occidentals. Yemen and Oman didn't attract nearly as much attention to themselves, but they were still under scrutiny as well, seeing as they were accompanying the North Americans.

"Something's happened," Yemen said, glancing around at the people. "They're a little _too_ suspicious."

"I wouldn't call them suspicious," Oman said. "They just seem… concerned. Almost like…"

"Like humans are when they sense that their country is in danger?" America finished. "Do you think they've already gotten to him?"

"He's alive," Yemen said. "The people would have been acting a lot differently if he wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's hope you don't find out."

…

"It seems that America's group is on their way here," Egypt said conversationally, before he looked over towards UAE. "Yemen and Oman are with them. Why don't we arrange a little surprise for them?"

…

England and Scotland were left panting, as though they had run a marathon. New burn marks could be seen all over the visible parts of their bodies.

"It's almost time to get to the climax," Wales said, cocking the gun. "To be honest, this is starting to get boring."

England and Scotland exchanged a look, wondering who Wales intended to kill _this_ time. They received their answer when Wales pointed the gun at Scotland's head.

"Bye-bye," Wales said as he pulled the trigger.

…

Portugal sighed, stroking Brazil's back. He didn't expect that he would need to comfort a former colony after he had his heart broken, but that was what was happening.

"Try to forget about it," Portugal said. "There's nothing that you can do."

"I just wish that I could help her," Brazil said. "They're messing with her heart. They're making her fall for someone against her will."

"They said that she _used to_ have something with him, right?"

"S-sim…"

"Then the seeds were already there. They're just cultivating it."

Brazil sobbed loudly, and Portugal sighed, knowing that it was probably the worst thing to say.

"I don't remember her mentioning something like that," Indonesia said.

"Maybe it didn't come up?" Timor suggested. "Or maybe she hasn't fallen that far yet."

"In which case," Macau said, "there's still hope for you."

Brazil peeked at the others and smiled softly. The smile fell, however, when they heard footsteps. More than two sets, in fact. Instinctively, Portugal held Brazil closer to him, and vice versa.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" Romano taunted as soon as he came into view.

Portugal glared, but the nations behind Romano caught his attention. His eyes widened when he saw everyone.

"Belgium?" he asked. "Luxembourg?"

The other two Europeans looked surprised to see him as well, and Portugal noticed three other nations behind them, looking just as nervous as the first two. And he could also see a family resemblance.

"You look really cute like that, Brazil," Argentina said, a sadistic smirk on her face.

Brazil whimpered, clinging even tighter to Portugal. His one hand trailed towards the bite mark that she had given him a while back.

"As much as we would like to tease you more," South Korea said, "we have other business to discuss. We'll leave you to get cosy."

Romano, India, Switzerland, South and Argentina left, leaving the prisoners alone.

"What happened?" Belgium asked, looking at Brazil.

"He had his heart broken," Portugal said, shrugging. "They really enjoy playing with our emotions."

Luxembourg and Belgium exchanged a look, and Portugal sighed.

"I figured out that Netherlands likes me," Portugal said. "And China as well. That's probably why they brought you. They want to use you to get to Netherlands."

"Makes sense," Indonesia said, nodding slightly.

"I just wish I knew what they intend to do to Zuid-Afrika," Belgium sighed.

Brazil looked over towards her with wide eyes, and Portugal sighed.

"They're playing matchmaker with one of their own," Portugal said.

"What?!" Belgium and Luxembourg exclaimed.

"I think it would be better if you could tell us everything that you know," Sint Maarten said, sitting down in an unoccupied space.

…

Mozambique sighed, packing her bags. Eritrea had come over to tell her to go to Sicily. She didn't know why, but she knew that she couldn't disobey.

She hadn't seen either of the South Africas in a while, and she hoped that this would be a good opportunity to find out what's been happening to her neighbours.

She just hoped that she wouldn't be on her way to an execution or something.

…

Russia was at the Moscow airport, sitting on a chair while playing with his phone. He couldn't contact anyone, and until the other nations arrived he needed to keep himself busy _somehow_.

"R-Russia?"

He looked up and smiled when he noticed Azerbaijan, who was the first to arrive, it would seem. He patted the seat next to him.

"Have a seat, comrade," Russia said. "We are still waiting for Armenia and Georgia."

Azerbaijan swallowed nervously, before he sat in the seat a few chairs away from Russia. Russia sighed.

"I am not going to hurt you," Russia said. "I have brought you here to protect you. From Amodi."

Azerbaijan nodded, but didn't comment.

"It was a little difficult," Azerbaijan said. "With the communication cut off. Is it just me?"

"Nyet," Russia said. "The entire world."

"…If communication is cut off, how do you know it's the entire world?"

Russia smiled slightly. Once Azerbaijan got over his nervousness, he could be pretty curious.

"Because the threat had come before they went through with it," Russia said. "England was the first. Well, him and his brothers. This happened sometime after France's death."

"Why are they doing this?" Azerbaijan asked. "I mean… Do they want to watch the world burn?"

"Not burn," Russia sighed. "Just suffer. Look. I think I see Armenia."

Azerbaijan nodded, and now Russia just had to hope that Georgia arrived safely as well.

…

Italy glanced over towards Seborga in envy. The micronation hadn't developed the same tolerance that Italy had, so he was already drunk while Italy still had a sharp mind.

He needed something _stronger_ than vodka.

He shook his head, feeling calmer after the earlier shock and deciding that it had been enough. He needed to get to work on business, and with the alcohol providing more… _creative_ thoughts, he figured that now was as good as any other time.

"Don't stay up too late," Italy said as he stood.

He walked towards his office, and once he was seated he pulled out a map.

…

When they arrived at UAE's mansion, they could see that something was seriously wrong. The guards had been killed, and the front door was ajar. Michoacán and America withdrew their guns, while Yemen and Oman each pulled out some type of sword.

"Let's hope we're not too late," America said, before he led the way inside.

They listened carefully for any sounds. They could hear ragged breathing, and they could see that a single light was burning in the otherwise dark building. Swallowing nervously, they crept closer.

They saw UAE in the centre of the room, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, his arms spread out to the side. But _alive_.

"Emirates!" Oman shouted, rushing closer.

UAE opened his eyes, and they widened in shock.

"No!" he said. "It's a…"

A gunshot ran through the room, and UAE went limp, the light in his eyes fading. Oman froze in place, and the others searched around the room.

"Trap," Yemen muttered.

"No kidding."

They spun around, searching for the source of the voice. They heard a gun being cocked, and Oman's eyes widened before he jumped forward as a shot ran out, followed by a scream of pain.

"Damn," Egypt's voice said. "Missed."

"Show yourself, you coward!" Yemen shouted.

Michoacán glanced towards her shoulder, where Cortez was perched, invisible to everyone except her. He was staring at a spot, and she aimed for that spot, and she shot a split second before another shot rang out.

Yemen screamed, clutching his arm. But now they could see Egypt, who was rubbing his wrist and looking towards Michoacán.

"Nice shot," he said reluctantly.

America and Michoacán turned their weapons to him, and Egypt rolled his eyes.

"Those won't kill me," Egypt said. "Not like _this_."

"That's no ordinary gun, is it?" Michoacán asked.

"Oh, the weapon is ordinary. It's the _bullets_ that aren't normal."

"No kidding," Yemen said, gritting his teeth. "I've been shot before. It didn't hurt even _half_ as much as this."

"What did you do to the bullets?" America asked.

"Why don't you take a closer look?" Egypt said. "You should be able to recognise the nature."

America gently took Yemen's arm, wincing at the hiss of pain. The moment he saw the bullet wound, his eyes widened and he turned back to Egypt.

"You managed to make nuclear _bullets_?" America asked incredulously.

"All of the power of a nuclear weapon in compact form," Egypt said, smirking. "It hurts like a bitch when it strikes a nation, but with a human it serves to destroy all of the surrounding tissue, and it's a race to see if they die from the wound or the radiation poisoning. Oh, and it can cause a permanent death when a nation receives a fatal wound. Which reminds me…"

Egypt turned the gun towards Oman, who was curled up in a ball with his hands pressed against his side. They could clearly see the red staining his hands.

"No!" Yemen, America and Michoacán shouted right as Egypt pulled the trigger.

Egypt's eyes widened when instead of a _bang_ , there was nothing but a _click_. Michoacán smirked.

"Out of ammo," she said, before she pulled the trigger of her own weapon.

Egypt was shot in the centre of his forehead, and he stumbled slightly, but regained his balance quickly. The others widened their eyes.

"You win this round," Egypt said, before he disappeared.

"I hate magic," America muttered as Yemen rushed over towards Oman.

"He needs medical attention," Yemen said.

"No kidding," Michoacán said. "As soon as the two of you are patched up, we're out of here."

They glanced towards UAE, and knew that this trip had been as waste. But they also knew that Egypt had waited for them, and it was through good fortune that they had managed to survive.

…

"There," Canada said, smiling after he adjusted Mexico's TV.

"Thanks," she said, before she frowned. "Is it only news?"

"Pretty much. This covers everything that's happening on our ends in a way that the humans understand. There's also another channel that shows our movies. Oh, that reminds me, you need to give us some Mexican movies to show."

"I am starting to love you guys more and more," Mexico said, a smirk on her face.

They were startled by someone suddenly appearing in the room, and Confederacy pulled out a gun, but Canada instantly recognised the figure and ran to him.

"Gupta!" Canada shouted, wrapping his arms around the other male. "What happened? Who… Who did this to you?"

"Matthew?" Egypt asked, his voice slurred. "I didn't realise that you would be here."

"Who did this?" Canada asked.

"America and Micho…a…cán…"

Egypt passed out, and Canada looked over towards Mexico.

"Could we stay the night?" Canada asked.

"S-si," Mexico said, staring at Egypt in surprise.

"Al, you're _dead_ ," Canada said, the black ribbon appearing and glowing.

…

Russia led the other three nations to his car. They were shifting their eyes anxiously, looking for an ambush or something.

Russia saw the snow in front of them behaving strangely, and he held out his arm to stop the other three nations. They watched in apprehension when the snow congealed, taking a human form.

"General Winter," Russia said, and the other nations huddled closer behind Russia. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You need help, Ivan," the General said. "And I am here to offer my services."

 **I kind of forgot Argentina for a while, but now she dropped off her own prisoners and she could start her own killing spree.**

 **And Philippines's killing of Malaysia will take longer because she needs to wipe out his population first, and she's not using bombs or the like because she wants it to be slow and painful. And besides, with no way for the Malaysian army to be able to communicate with each other, they're sitting ducks, so she can take it slow.**

 **And in the French books we're reading they refer to Westerners as 'occidentals', and the word is stuck in my head. Plus, I don't want to forget it, like I did in one test we wrote (oops).**

 **There's a reason why Egypt went to Mexico's place first, which will be explained later. And the reason why he managed to survive the shot while avoiding immediately losing consciousness is because of the extra endurance that Amodi has, and as Egypt stated, America and Michoacán's bullets aren't enough to kill him.**


	45. Chapter 44

**Thanks to Elsa, Terra, Toesz, Elizaveta Hedervary – Hungary, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior and Myrna Maeve for reviewing.**

 **So, I forgot this last chapter: a brief description of San Marino and Vatican. So, Vatican is around Romano's age with blond hair, and two curls on either side of his head that resemble a halo from a certain angle. He also has green eyes. And San Marino's age is somewhere between Seborga and Italy's, and he has dirty-blond hair with hazel eyes. Just to clarify.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 44**

Russia stared at the General in surprise, before cocking his head.

"That is awfully kind, comrade," Russia said. "But you must forgive me when I ask you _why_."

"Without my help, you will not survive," General Winter said. "They have Canada and Finland on their side, the two nations that can traverse your environment. Have you ever wondered where Belarus had learned to do that?"

Russia frowned thoughtfully.

"I had managed to learn that they chose to keep Iceland alive because they had no desire to deal with his environment," General Winter continued. "They do not feel the same way about you. Which means, first of all, that they have someone that can challenge you in your own land."

"Canada and Finland," Russia said, thinking about the other two nations.

"Da. But even they aren't too fond of winter. The other nations in their group will not be so happy to see me."

"But are you able to defy seasons and even climates?" Azerbaijan asked, peeking out from behind Russia.

The General glanced towards him with cold eyes, and Azerbaijan dove back behind Russia.

"I am not the only one like me," General Winter said. "I'm just one of the few that decided to aid a nation. But many have lost their nations to these plagues. They are willing to help."

"But that doesn't answer my question," Russia said. "Why are _you_ willing to help?"

"Because they have interfered with the natural order. They cannot be allowed to continue."

…

Canada had placed Egypt on the bed in Mexico's guest room. Egypt was unconscious, and looking a little paler than usual. But he had managed to bypass the temporary deaths that nations usually experienced whenever they received a fatal injury.

In a way, that was good. It was a testament to Amodi's strength that they couldn't even be affected by the usual things of nations.

But there was still the matter of dealing with America and Michoacán. They had hurt Egypt. They needed to pay. Canada might need to discuss Michoacán with Mexico, but it was certainly in his power to deal with America.

It was time to stop delaying with Alaska. The state needed to become Canadian territory, even though he couldn't deal with her personally. But if things went as planned, it wouldn't be a problem.

"Will he be alright?"

Canada turned towards Mexico, whose eyes widened in shock. Canada smiled, knowing that it was his anger that she had seen just now and trying to reassure her.

"He didn't get killed," Canada said. "It looks like we're strong enough that even the temporary deaths don't affect us."

"Oh," Mexico said, surprised. "That's good, I guess."

"Once he's awake, I'll ask him about what happened. Rosa…"

"You want to speak to me about Michoacán."

"…Yes."

"You can't attack her land yet. She seems to make sure it remains slow. She knows that I can't attack her while she is still dependant."

"And attacking one of our allies is out of the question too."

"Si. But, if you want to kill the person…"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill her," Canada said. "I'm just going to make her life a living hell. I think I'll do to her what I did to Quebec."

"What did you…?"

Canada just gave a smile, and Mexico decided that she would rather not press the subject.

…

America's group was walking back to the airport dejectedly. Oman had his hands pressed against his bandaged side, while Yemen's arm was in a makeshift sling. It had taken them a while to find UAE's first aid kit, and they felt a little guilty about using it, but it couldn't be helped.

The people were freaking out. It was the result of their nation being killed, and random people were being struck down with strokes, heart attacks, aneurysms… None of the humans knew what was going on, and there was no way to tell them.

This was the price they paid for their failure.

Michoacán came to an abrupt halt when a white bird suddenly flew right in front of her, hovering expectantly. She saw that it contained a small, rolled-up piece of paper in its beak. The three nations didn't notice and continued to walk on.

Michoacán held out her hand, and the bird landed on it. With her other hand she took the note and carefully unrolled it.

 _Michoacán,_

 _The others didn't want to contact you, but we decided that it's for the best, since you're travelling with America and can give us information from the nations' fight. We smaller personifications – states, regions, provinces, islands – have decided to start our own revolution. We will stop Amodi, no matter what. Send Pierre back when you've made a decision._

 _Picardy._

Michoacán looked at the bird, before searching in her pockets. She was upset that the only thing she had on hand was a tube of lipstick (to be used for undercover emergencies), but it would have to do. She quickly wrote 'yes', rolled up the piece of paper and handed it back to the bird, who immediately flew off.

She then had to run to catch up with the three males, who _still_ hadn't noticed her absence.

…

England shivered, curled up on the floor. After killing Scotland, Wales had released England from his bonds, not that it made much of a difference. England had already been weak from the previous torture, and Wales had taken it up several notches, but at the same time it wasn't _too_ extreme.

It was simply a repeat of all the injuries England had inflicted on Wales throughout the centuries.

With every injury obtained, England felt more and more guilty about what he had done to his own _brother_. He found that he couldn't blame Wales for joining Amodi. He couldn't blame Wales for not forgiving him.

Wales loomed over him, and England looked up with a tired eye, the other having been gauged out. Nations healed fast, and most injuries disappeared. But that shouldn't have been an excuse for what England had done.

And the thing that made England feel the most horrible was the fact that, at some point, he had wanted to kill Wales. And now Wales was returning the favour.

"Are you ready to go to hell?" Wales asked. "Say hello to France and Spain for me, by the way."

And England closed his eyes for the last time.

…

Cornwall shuddered, and Isle of Man looked at him with concern before she sighed. There was no need to explain.

England was dead.

There was a white bird with them, and Isla finished the response before sending the bird away.

…

Madeira held her hand firmly against her mouth, perched on a tree branch in Laurel Forest. Beneath her, the Amodi soldiers were running around, searching for her.

She felt a little insulted that Amodi would send their human soldiers to get her. From what she had heard, they liked to do things personally. Or was she just not important enough?

She watched as the soldiers departed, before she sighed in relief. Never before had she felt this threatened in her own lands. Ever since Portugal had been taken by Amodi, she had been in an unending game of hide-and-seek.

She knew that she needed to get out of there. Leave her land and flee to a country which wasn't under Amodi's control. But the question was: _where_?

…

Poland smirked when he stepped off the plane. It was late morning in Mongolia – perfect for searching for and killing the nation himself.

And the best part was that their enemies wouldn't interfere. China and Russia would probably have sent aid, had it been a different war. And the two Koreas were a little disappointed that they couldn't join, but he had promised that he would send them a picture of the corpse.

Chuckling at the thought, Poland set off to complete his mission. And get his revenge.

…

Liechtenstein was looking at a piece of paper as she walked towards Italy's office. She knocked on the door before entering, not removing her eyes from the paper.

Italy looked towards her, an eyebrow raised. Liechtenstein showed him the paper, which turned out to be a map of America.

"Where can I launch an attack?" she asked.

Italy looked at her blankly, before taking a closer look at the map. Seeing what _exactly_ it was, he smirked.

"I take it you want revenge," Italy said.

"Of course I do," Liechtenstein said. "He will pay for what he did to Jason."

"Canada is in agreement," Italy said. "Apparently, there was an unfortunate run-in between Egypt and America's group."

"Is he alright?"

"Si. And apparently, we can resist the nations' temporary deaths."

"Oh. That's good."

Italy took the map, taking a closer look. He smiled and pointed at an area.

"This isn't in Canada or Mexico's sights at the moment," he said. "Have fun."

She took the map from him and gave a dark smirk.

"Oh, I plan to."

…

"Have a nice flight," India said.

South smiled and Switzerland nodded in acknowledgement. Argentina was on her phone, speaking angrily in Spanish. They knew that it was Peru on the other line, so they assumed it was because she wanted victims for herself, but they weren't leaving a lot of choices.

"Will you be alright with the prisoners?" Switzerland asked.

"We can handle them," Romano said offhandedly. "And if they _do_ decide to give problems… We have a lot of hostages at our disposal."

Switzerland smirked.

"Then have fun," Switzerland said.

"You too," India said. "Destroy Pakistan for me."

"You've got it," South said. "We'll send you a picture."

Argentina sighed, hanging up the phone. She turned to regard Switzerland and South before grabbing their arms and dragging them, startling the two.

"Come on," Argentina said. "We need to get to the airport. I need my fix."

Switzerland and South exchanged a look and sighed. The fact that she hadn't started randomly attacking people on the street was a testament to her self-control. But once the South Americans' rampage had begun there was no stopping them.

And Argentina had already been delayed.

…

White was delighted when she was allowed outside, though she clung onto Israel for dear life. The idea of being surrounded by so many enemies made her nervous, and she expected a last taunt or for Italy to change his mind.

When she _did_ see Italy, she immediately dove behind Israel, who fixed his face into a mask of worry and nervousness. Italy smirked when he saw this.

"We're granting you freedom on a provisional basis," Italy said. "Get into trouble, and that freedom will be taken away." He dug into his pocket and produced a cell phone, which he gave to Israel. "We'll use _this_ if we want to get in contact with you. And you better answer, or else."

Israel took the phone and nodded, before he led White away.

"So," Israel said, "what do you want to do once we're in your country?"

"Braai?" White asked. "I missed Braaidag, so I want to braai."

"As long as it's kosher."

Italy watched them for a moment, before making his way to the basement. He had something else to do, and it gave him a thrill to be able to do it.

He walked down the steps, his smirk growing with every step he took. Finally, he was at the bottom, and his smirk became impossibly wide when the two German brothers lifted their heads to look at him.

"Good news," Italy said. "The partitions are complete. Which means we no longer have any use for you."

"Was all that necessary?" Prussia asked.

"No," Italy said while shrugging. "We could have just killed you and get it over with. But Feliks wanted you to go through the same hell that he had gone through."

"And what are you going to do now?" Germany asked.

Italy chuckled, before removing a cell phone.

"Time for the last bit of torture we could inflict," Italy said.

"Do your worst!" Prussia shouted.

"Oh, who said that this torture is for you?"

…

Everyone was tense at Syria's house, none more than Syria, though. They knew that they had to wait for Egypt to arrive, but the problem was, _when_ would he arrive? And what should they do until then?

They couldn't get in contact with anyone, and they didn't know how their allies were faring. They didn't know whether any of them had been killed.

They jumped when they heard a surprising sound: a phone ringing. They all turned to Hungary, who was searching through her pockets before finally finding the device. She swallowed nervously when she saw that it was Italy's name listed on caller-ID, but answered nonetheless.

"H-hello?" she answered.

"Ciao, Hungary," Italy said. "There's someone that would like to speak to you."

There was a shuffling on the other end, and Hungary felt her nervousness grow.

"Liz!"

Hungary paled when she heard Prussia's voice.

"Gilbert? W-what's going on?"

"Italy's a bastard," Prussia said. "They've finished the partitions of Germany. West isn't a nation anymore. Like me. Liz, I'm scared."

"W-why?"

There was a gasp on the other end, followed by a whimper.

"Because there's a gun pressed to my head."

 _Bang!_

Hungary jumped at the loud sound. Greece and Cyprus heard it too, for they immediately stood and approached Hungary. Syria and Turkey just watched.

She could hear muffled shouts of protest, and knew that Germany was there, having witnessed Prussia's death. There was another _bang_ , and the protests were silenced.

"That's that taken care of," Italy said. "Oh, and England and his brothers are dead, except for one. The micronations weren't the only spies we've planted. And tell Syria I said 'hi'."

And when the dial tone reached Hungary's ears, the phone fell out of her limp hand.

Greece was the first to notice, and he deftly caught her when her knees buckled, right before she broke down into sobs. All of her friends… they were gone. The only one left was Ukraine, and she didn't even know if she was still safe or… or…

"Lizzie!" Greece said, looking more alert than ever before. "What happened? What's going on?"

"P-Prussia…" Hungary said. "G-Germany… They're both dead. And England and his brothers are dead too. Except… They had a spy. They didn't say who. But one of England's brothers is a traitor."

"Damn," Turkey said, jabbing at his phone, before throwing it on the couch. "And there's _still_ no signal."

"Oh no," Cyprus said, his eyes wide. "I think I know what they're doing."

"Care to share?" Turkey asked.

"The only news that could come through is from Amodi themselves. We can't contact each other. _They_ can contact _us_."

"And they'll use it to torture us," Syria said, looking at Hungary.

"T-they also know where we are," Hungary said.

"Good," Turkey said. "Let them come. We know how to kill them. We can fight."

"Egypt could have been lying," Greece pointed out. "He wouldn't just tell us their methods. Not if there's a chance that we'd use them against them."

"We know about the heart thing," Cyprus pointed out. "That's a start."

"I hate them," Turkey said.

Everyone was in agreement.

…

Singapore was wandering through the streets of Beijing. She had gone to search for China, but he had been absent from his Beijing home. And it looked like he hadn't been there in a while.

But that was okay. If a nation was long enough in another nation's land, the other nation would become aware of it and would seek out the intruding nation. Normally it meant war, but occasionally nations that sought refuge would go to a potential ally's land. And depending on the actions of the intruding nation, the alliance would either be accepted or rejected.

Singapore had faith that it wouldn't be rejected.

…

Egypt groaned, opening his eyes. He looked around with blurry eyes before he caught sight of something. As his vision cleared, he saw that it was Canada and smiled.

"Hey," Egypt said. "How long was I out?"

"All night," Canada said. "You really scared me. Mind telling me what happened?"

"I was careless," Egypt said. "While I was in the Emirates North Korea called me. He said that America's group was nearby. Yemen and Oman were with him, so I thought that I could take care of them then and there. So I waited. Should have checked my ammo."

"Who shot you?" Canada asked.

"Michoacán. She fired two bullets. The first ricocheted right when I was firing my own weapon and jarred my hand slightly. The second hit my head."

"And America? Did he fire at you?"

"…No. He didn't fire the gun."

"So, it's Michoacán that I need to punish. Gupta, once you're feeling better, I want you to come with me. We're going to pay Quebec a little visit."

…

Berlin watched over her city, a look of sorrow on her face. Ludwig was gone. Gilbert was gone. And now, _Germany_ was gone. Now, Germany belonged to Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Poland. It was the Cold War all over again, except now the different nations were all on the same side, of the same mind.

She knew what happened to other personifications like her. They were hunted down and killed. There was nothing that they could do about it.

She felt the barrel of a gun against the back of her head and froze. She wouldn't turn around. She wouldn't let the bastard see the fear in her eyes, nor the resignation. It was over. There would be no more fighting. There was only a long sleep waiting for her. And perhaps, if she was lucky, she would see her brothers again. _All_ of them.

"It's nice to see that you've accepted your fate," Kugelmugel's voice said from behind.

She sensed something from him and widened her eyes. He was a nation now, too. And he was taking pieces of Germany as well.

 _BANG!_

 **Sorry if there are errors – haven't proofread it this time. I'm kind of swamped and having a bad day, so I was more focused on writing this chapter but don't exactly have time to check for errors.**

 **This Saturday was Heritage Day, which is celebrated as braai day. It's not uncommon for an entire neighbourhood to smell like barbecue. I just had to mention it.**


	46. Chapter 45

**Thanks to Elsa, Terra, LifeLeaves, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Toesz, pastaaddict, shoujochan and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 45**

Morocco looked up when the door opened, before looking down as soon as she saw that it was Italy. Italy smirked, stepping into the room.

"What do you want?" Morocco asked. "Come to kill me too?"

"No," Italy said. "I've come to tell you that you're free to go. Of course, you're still a part of our empire. You won't get your independence back. But you _can_ at least leave this room. You _can_ go back to your own country."

Morocco was silent for a moment, simply examining Italy.

"Who did you kill?" Morocco asked.

"Germany and Prussia," Italy said. "They were no longer useful to us."

"And what would happen if _I_ were to lose my 'usefulness'? And how would I even _be_ useful to you?"

Italy was silent for a moment, before he closed the door, leaning against it.

"I'm keeping all of the Africans alive because of the continent conquest," Italy said. "It's a bit of magic that gives us extra power. It also increases the natural resources in the continent. And when it comes to natural resources, you can't deny that Africa is the richest."

"Then why keep us alive?"

"Because it doesn't work if the original nation is dead. It's all about balance. The continent had been conquered relatively peacefully. It's the most peaceful conquest the continent had ever seen, at least. We also don't interfere with the borders or anything. We leave everything as it was before we conquered it. Any changes are brought upon by the nations themselves or their people. That is what's necessary for the equilibrium. If an outside force messes with the balance of power, things will become chaotic."

Morocco was silent for a moment, pondering Italy's words. Then she realised something.

"You said 'outside forces'," Morocco said. "What about internal conflicts?"

"As long as it doesn't challenge our authority, there's no risk," Italy said. "Though our actions are limited as well. We can't kill you, but we _can_ torture you."

Morocco scowled.

"And what happens if the equilibrium is shattered?" Morocco asked.

"The same thing that happened to Madagascar," Italy said. "America thought he'd 'rescue' her. But when a nation under our control leaves us, they will die. And with no heir to become the nation, well… long story short, the island of Madagascar is becoming uninhabitable. In the last twenty-four hours alone there have been six fires, twelve earthquakes and seven thunderstorms. By the end of the week, Chernobyl would be more inhabitable than Madagascar."

Tears streamed down Morocco's face. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be their fate. At best, it was a story told to keep her in line. At worst…

It was a testament to how evil Amodi actually was.

…

Russia arrived back at the base with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in tow. He was barely inside the base when he was suddenly embraced by Ukraine, holding onto him tightly.

"Ivan, you're back!" Ukraine exclaimed. "I was so worried."

"It's alright, sestra," Russia said, patting her lightly on the back. "We're safe, as you can see."

"And we've got General Winter on our side now," Armenia said.

"Da," Russia said. "The General doesn't like Amodi either."

Ukraine gave a small smile.

"Let's hope that, with his help, we are able to stop them."

"Just wish we could have handled it quicker," Georgia said. "I'm freezing my butt off."

Ukraine smiled.

"I'll go make all of you some hot chocolate," she said.

"Ukraine, you're a lifesaver," Azerbaijan said, smiling with relief.

…

Wales was lounging on the couch, looking at the corpses of his brothers. The dragon raging inside of him was satisfied. Revenge had been achieved.

He looked up when the micronations entered, looks of satisfaction on their own faces.

"You're turning into nations now, right?" Wales said.

"Yeah," Sealand said. "Though, it will take a while for the changes to take effect."

"Italy sends his congratulations," Wy said. "And he wants to know what you're going to do now."

"I'm not sure," Wales said, shrugging. "I don't really have any other plans at the moment."

"Then, would you like to join us at our base of operations?" Hutt River asked.

Wales thought about it for a moment. He would certainly be in the know about everything, and wouldn't have to rely on the micronations or his phone to receive news. Actually, there hasn't been any relevant news sent to him, to be honest. And besides, if he was there, he could actually get something to do.

"What are we going to do about Australia and New Zealand?" Wales asked.

"We'll take them with us," Wy said. "I'm sure Italy will think of something we could do with them."

Wales shrugged.

"Alright," he said. "There's nothing better to do, anyway."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hutt River said. "That might change very soon."

…

Poland arrived at Mongolia's house, and frowned when he saw that it was a little _too_ quiet. He managed to sneak inside, and searched through Mongolia's house.

He found Mongolia's cell phone in his office, along with a note. Poland frowned, before picking it up.

 _I know you'll come for me, but I won't make it easy. I figured you might use our phones to track us. I've seen enough movies to know that that could happen, whether we have signal or not. And I know that you wouldn't turn off everything without having a source of power for yourselves. Good luck trying to find me. I'll be waiting._

Poland crumpled the paper in his fist, feeling irked by the change of events. It would seem he would have to rely on plan B to track a nation down.

…

Romania snickered into the phone, leaning against the table while Finland was preparing something to eat. Finland looked over curiously, knowing that Romania was on the phone with Poland and wondering what had amused his lover.

"Alright, I'll get right on it," Romania said. "Pa."

Romania hung up and went to hug Finland from behind.

"Shouldn't you get to work on whatever it is Poland wants from you?" Finland asked.

"It involves magic," Romania said. "I need to let him think that it takes a while to accomplish."

"What exactly do you need to do?"

"Track down Mongolia. He anticipated the whole 'using-technology-to-keep-tabs-on-you' approach."

"Okay. So, why do you need to make him think that it takes time?"

"This is a relatively simple spell," Romania said, shrugging. "If I finish it too fast, Poland would think that I can finish _all_ spells that fast. So, when I'm asked for a more complicated spell, he will demand that I complete it swiftly, and therefore rush me, which would result in a mistake. Egypt does this as well."

"Right. You two are the only ones in our group that use magic, other than nation magic."

"Remember, Wales joined as well."

"Oh yeah."

Romania placed a kiss on Finland's temple before he pulled away.

"You know, we should really get the others to cook as well," Romania said. "Pull their weight around here."

"Not Iceland," Finland said. "I once made the mistake of eating his hákarl. Nastiest food I've ever had."

"Have you ever had England's cooking?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Romania shuddered.

"I'll make a note to not allow Iceland in the kitchen then," Romania said.

…

Liechtenstein breathed deeply, focusing her mind. As luck would have it, she had one of her people where it mattered most. And through her connection to her people, she would point that single one in the right direction.

She would make America _pay_ for what he had done to Molossia.

…

India was busy reading on an armchair when Romano came in. India's eyes widened when Romano slumped against the back of the chair, and he turned around to look at the Italian.

"Did something happen?" India asked.

"Nothing to worry about," Romano said. "I just found out that two of my fratelli are in a relationship together."

India's mind went blank for a moment, before trying to figure out what exactly Romano meant. He knew that Italy and Poland were together, and Seborga and Hutt River were an item. Which meant…

"Wait a minute," India said. "Are you saying… Vatican and San Marino…?"

"Si," Romano said, sighing dejectedly. "I don't know what to think, you know."

"That's… definitely a shock."

"Anyway, a new batch of prisoners will be coming soon. My people will escort them."

"The Portuguese Africans?"

"Si."

"Well, we have all the ammunition against Portugal that we could want."

"Si. And he wouldn't _dare_ make us angry."

India snickered.

"Wait until he hears what else we have in store for him," India said.

…

"Are you sure you're alright?" Mexico asked, eyes fixed on Egypt.

"I'll recover on the flight," Egypt said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Still…"

"He said he'll be fine," Confederacy said.

Mexico glanced over towards Confederacy and saw that she looked slightly annoyed. Mexico smiled before throwing her arm around Confederacy's shoulder, hugging the other closer to her.

"You don't mind if we deal with Michoacán, do you?" Canada asked.

"I don't care _what_ you do to the brat," Mexico said. "As long as she stops giving problems. I've been so busy dealing with her people, it's not even funny."

Before they could say anything else, Canada's phone rang. He smiled, before he answered it.

"Yeah?" he said. He was silent for a moment as he listened. "Keep her there. I'm not currently in the northern part of North America, so I'll send someone else to take care of it."

Canada hung up the phone, before immediately dialling another number. He waited a while for the person on the other end to pick up.

"San Marino, it's Canada," he said. "I was just notified by my soldiers that they found Alaska. Could you send one of the micronations to kill her for me?" He was silent for a moment as he listened to the other's response. "Alright, thanks."

He hung up the phone before turning to the others.

"Sorry about that," Canada said. "Now, shall we get going?"

"Yes," Egypt said. "I'm curious to see what you have in mind."

Canada smirked.

"Oh, you'll love it," he said.

…

"So," America said, "where to next?"

The others were silent for a moment, trying to get the image of their failure out of their heads.

"We already know that Saudi Arabia is dead," Michoacán said. "So, let's go for Qatar, and then Bahrain."

"How do we know that they're not dead as well?" Oman asked.

"Because they're not afraid to brag about their victories."

"She has a point," Yemen said. "If Egypt had already killed them, then he would have told us."

"Okay then," America said. "So, Qatar then."

Michoacán bit her lip, her mind wandering to the bird, Pierre, and the message that had accompanied it. She knew that nations in the old days had done it, but… Did any of _these_ nations do it?

"Yo, Mel, what's up?" America asked, startling Michoacán from her thoughts.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just thinking… You know how nations used to use birds to communicate. Like, say, France using a little white bird?"

"Yeah, sure?"

"Well, do any of _you_ have birds like that?"

"I have an eagle, of course," America said. "I named her 'Liberty'."

"Of course," the other three sighed.

"Well…" Yemen said. "I have a merlin that I used to use."

"What's this about?" Oman asked.

"Since we can't use the modern methods to communicate," Michoacán said, "we would have to revert to old-school methods."

"That might just work," Yemen said. "We can summon these birds at any time, and they can track down any nation that they're meant to deliver their letter to."

"As long as Amodi doesn't catch on," Oman said.

"Mel, you're a genius!" America said, looking at Michoacán with bright eyes.

Michoacán smirked, wondering what was happening in the rest of the world.

They all jumped when they heard America's phone ringing, and they looked at each other in horror.

"W-what's going on?" America asked.

"Answer, you fool," Oman said. "It might be important."

America fumbled for his phone before he answered.

"H-hello?" he asked.

"Oh good, you answered," Italy's voice said. "I was expecting that you wouldn't know what the hell was going on and not answer at all."

"What do you want?"

"I just thought I'd give you some news, seeing as you're cut off and everything."

America looked around at the others, before putting his phone on speaker. Italy chuckled on the other end.

"So, you decided to share with the rest of your little group," Italy said. "I suppose you want to save yourself the trouble of explaining later."

"Get on with it," America said. "But first, how are you doing this?"

"We control the communication, remember? We can contact each other and temporarily contact any of you."

"Why go through this?" Michoacán asked.

"Because he wants to mess with our heads," Oman said.

"You should be happy you're still alive," Italy said darkly. "I'm surprised Egypt made a mistake like that. Won't happen again."

"Why did you call?!" America demanded.

"England is dead."

America's eyes widened and he completely froze.

"Y-you… Y-you're l-lying," America stuttered.

"No I'm not," Italy said calmly. "Want me to send you the pictures? I warn you, they're not pretty. It wasn't a quick little death, you see."

"Bastard," America hissed.

"Oh, and just a reminder, you've pissed off Liechtenstein. And her revenge… That is a special brand of cruelty right there. And Michoacán, you've pissed off Canada. Big time. What he has in store for you…"

"Shut up!" America snapped. "Just shut up already!"

Italy chuckled coldly.

"And my work is done," Italy said. "Oh, and Prussia and Germany are now officially dead as well. Just remember, we have several nations as our prisoners."

Italy hung up, and America threw the device against the opposite wall. Tears were welling in his eyes, and he buried his hands in his hair.-

"France, England," America said. "Canada, Molossia, Confederacy… My family's either dead or against me. They hate me. Why? What did I…? Why do they have to do this?"

Oman and Yemen exchanged looks but said nothing while Michoacán sighed.

"War isn't pretty," Michoacán said. "As nations, you've all suffered from war before. Even I've felt its effects on a few occasions. But as nations, you're used to war. As humans, you're not."

"Brother against brother," Oman whispered. "They're making sure that we know what it's like, to live like humans in war times."

"Family members on different sides," Yemen said. "Family and friends that could die at any given time, and you're helpless to stop it. And when the news reaches you, it's already too late."

Oman sighed.

"You're a young nation, America," Oman said, "so you haven't seen war nearly as much as we have."

Yemen cringed at those words.

"And no matter what, it doesn't become easier," Oman continued. "This is the hardest war we've ever fought, and we can only hope that we all make it out of this alive."

America was silent for a moment before he sighed.

"They just killed Alaska," America said. "They're chipping away at my country. They're killing my states. Why do they have to kill them?"

"I think it's because of me," Michoacán said, before she sighed. "Back in Abu Dhabi, one of France's birds came to me, except it was sent by Picardy. There are smaller personifications that will join the fight. I didn't want to say anything at first, but…"

"No," America said. "You didn't have to, as long as you didn't turn on us. So, what do they want?"

"They just want me to send information to tell them how the nations' side of things are going. Not spying, but… They said they're going to start a revolution. They want to stop Amodi, no matter what."

"Perfectly fine in my book," Oman said, placing his hand against his side.

"Let's get those birds," Yemen said. "We need to establish contact again."

…

Azores struggled in his captors' hold, but it was no use. The soldiers held him tightly. He didn't know what would happen to him, but he hoped that he wouldn't be killed. He also wanted to see Madeira and Portugal again, and have Portugal hug him and telling him that everything would be alright.

When he heard the words 'prisoner transport', he started to feel even more terrified. Somehow, the very thought of being transported sounded ominous. It was potentially worse than being killed.

Azores couldn't stop his tears when he was forced into a helicopter, his hands tied behind his back. He didn't know why they bothered with someone like him, or how the humans even knew what he looked like, and he didn't think he wanted to find out.

…

Madeira was hungry, she was tired, but she refused to stop. She had managed to avoid the soldiers for now, but for how long?

She jumped when she heard a cheep, and turned to see a white bird, carrying a letter. She allowed the bird to perch on her shoulder before taking the letter and reading it.

 _Madeira,_

 _We've decided to get the smaller personifications – islands, regions, provinces, states – and fight back against Amodi. I know that you're in danger from Amodi soldiers and I pray that Pierre reaches you in time. If you are able, please come to Basque. He will be able to help you._

 _Picardy._

Madeira smiled in relief. She still had somewhere she could turn to. There was a safe place for her yet.

However, doubt crept into her mind. What if this was a trap? After all, Spain was under the jurisdiction of Amodi, and by extension Basque as well. But Basque had been trying to get his independence from Spain _before_ everything, so…

Either way, it was better than running and hiding. Even if it was a trap, it would be a lot better. At least she could feel as though she put up a fight.

 **Go look up hákarl. It's a delicacy in Iceland, and has spawned a few headcanons: 'Iceland has no idea why other nations dislike England's cooking. To him, it isn't that bad.' Or: 'The Nordics never allow Iceland to cook, no matter how much he wants to.' Or: 'Norway is concerned about what Iceland eats, and Iceland reprimands Norway for making his food so boring.' Or: 'Whenever the magic trio gather and England offers food, Norway accepts because England might be a bad cook, but his delicacies are nothing compared to Iceland's.' Or: 'Iceland** _ **can**_ **cook, it's just** _ **what**_ **he cooks that make the other Nordics distrust him in the kitchen.'**

 **I've applied for my French honours, and the application process was a bit of a hassle, but the lecturers already told me that I've been accepted. I just hope the administration would see it that way as well. So, wish me luck.**

 **I've also found a pretty neat app called Memrise on the app store. It offers about a hundred languages or so, and you can pick the course (as in, they have different courses for each language). It also helps you remember the words in creative ways. I was surprised to see Afrikaans listed there. And the best part about it is that it's free (okay, there are a few things you need to pay for, but that's basically just expansion). It even has American and French sign language.**

 **And speaking of languages, do any of you have interesting facts about words or phrases in your languages? As a language student, they fascinate me. One example would be the phrase 'speak of the devil and he shall appear'. In Afrikaans it's 'praat van die duiwel en trap op sy stert', which translates to 'speak of the devil and step on his tail'. And 'still waters run deep' is in Afrikaans 'stille water, diepe grond, onder draai die duiwel rond', which means 'still waters, deep ground, underneath the devil turns around' (or something in that sense). Could also mean 'the devil moves about'.**


	47. Chapter 46

**Thanks to Elsa, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Toesz, pastaaddict and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 46**

Canada sighed, looking over towards Egypt. The moment the two had gotten on the plane the Egyptian had fallen asleep. He was still healing from the shot to the head, but at least he wasn't in any serious danger at the moment.

He would make Michoacán pay for the damage she had done to his lover. Once he was finished with her, she would wish that he had killed her. The thought of what her fate would be made him grin.

His eyes widened when the cabin shook, and he turned to the window. They weren't supposed to have any turbulence. So what was the meaning of it?

He opened the shutter of the nearest window and his eyes widened. Somehow, they were flying in a blizzard. He was in an area that shouldn't be able to experience storms like this, at an altitude where it shouldn't be a problem, and it wasn't even winter yet. Canada's eyes narrowed when he thought he saw a transparent figure in the snow.

"So, that's how you want to play it," Canada said. "I didn't think you'd be able to recruit the General, Russia. But he should know that this wouldn't even delay me."

Canada closed the shutter again, before taking out his phone. He would need to notify Italy of the fact that General Winter had apparently joined the war, and then pass the message along to Finland.

There was a chance that the General would attack others as well.

…

"How many of them do you have?" Cyprus asked, looking at all the daggers and swords that Syria had laid out and was currently sharpening.

"Enough," Syria said.

Hungary was examining one of the blades, an eyebrow raised.

"Is this Damascus steel?" she asked.

"Of course," Syria said. "And the humans may have forgotten how to make it, but _I_ haven't."

"You've just been keeping the knowledge to yourself then," Greece said.

"You _are_ aware of which part of the world I live in, right? I'm not going to share something like this. Even if the age of swords is over."

"But you're going to share these with us," Hungary said, smiling sweetly. "Right?"

Syria shuddered before frantically nodding his head. Greece and Cyprus exchanged a look, and Cyprus grinned.

They all jumped when they heard something tapping at the window. They turned to see what appeared to be a falcon at the window.

"That looks like Yemen's," Syria said.

Turkey narrowed his eyes, before going towards the window. He opened it, and the bird handed a letter to him.

"It's from America," Turkey said.

"Great," Syria groaned. "What does the idiot have to say?"

"'We figured out that we need to go old school if we want to stay in contact'," Turkey read. "'We have Yemen and Oman with us. We went to the Emirates, but Egypt was there first.'"

"Dammit," Hungary said. "He got someone else."

"'Mel managed to shoot Egypt in the head, so he won't be bothering anyone for a while.'"

"What?!" Syria exclaimed. "There goes the entire purpose of you coming here! And who's Mel?"

Turkey ignored Syria.

"'The scariest part was that he didn't even pass out when he was shot'," Turkey continued to read. "'Even if it was only for an hour, he shouldn't have been able to walk away, right?'"

"That _is_ distressing," Greece said.

"'Anyway, if you have something to report, send it with this bird. The hero's out.'"

"Turkey, do me a favour," Syria said. "Never say that again."

"It _is_ a little creepy," Cyprus agreed.

"It's at least a little progress," Turkey said. "And now we know that we can get in contact again."

"Why didn't we think of this earlier?" Hungary asked.

"Because we're no longer accustomed to it," Syria said simply. "I just hate the fact that America thought of this first."

"Don't worry about it," Cyprus said. "I don't think it was America that thought of it."

…

Ladonia glared down at the corpse at his feet, before looking at the letter that the other had been carrying. This would prove very interesting.

He would need to deliver this letter to Italy personally.

…

San Marino walked up to Italy, looking a little awkward. Italy threw him a quick glance before resuming his work on his laptop.

"You don't need to look so nervous," Italy said. "I'm not angry, and I mostly got over my surprise."

San Marino sighed, his shoulders sagging in relief.

"Grazie," he said. "So, Canada is going to Quebec. He wants to see in what state he is."

"For what purpose?" Italy asked.

"He has the same fate in mind for Michoacán."

Italy nodded.

"Because of Egypt," Italy said.

"Exactly," San Marino said. "He also reported that Russia has General Winter on his side now."

"Of course."

"The General had caused a blizzard mid-flight, at an altitude where it shouldn't be possible."

Italy was silent for a moment.

"Is it only the General?" he asked.

"As far as we know."

Italy sighed.

"It seems we need to get in contact with an old friend," Italy said. "Have one of the South Americans contact him."

San Marino smiled.

"It's fortunate that we were the first to find him," San Marino said.

"Indeed," Italy said. "Though the South Americans weren't happy about it. Venezuela immediately refused when we told him about the mission."

"The others resented him for that."

Italy chuckled, and San Marino cracked a smile as well. The younger was relieved that his brother didn't hate him, and that they could have moments such as these every now and again.

The moment was interrupted by the appearance of Ladonia, who had a serious expression on his face.

"Is there a problem?" Italy asked.

"Read this," Ladonia said, handing a letter to Italy.

Italy frowned, before accepting the letter. After a moment he looked up, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Carlino," Italy said, "I need you to call Canada again."

…

Tokyo chuckled, reading the letter. It would seem that there was a party going on, and he was invited to join.

He quickly sent his reply before removing his cell phone. Italy would want to hear about this.

…

Poland was sitting on Mongolia's chair, drumming his fingers impatiently as he waited for Romania to call. If Romania was wasting his time, then the other Eastern European would be getting an earful from Poland.

He jumped slightly when his phone rang, and he immediately answered.

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Have you been waiting long?" Romania asked.

Poland gave a little growl, which only made Romania chuckle.

"Do you know where he is or not?" Poland demanded.

"Da," Romania said, more serious. "He's somewhere in the Tarvagatai Mountains. I can't pinpoint _where_ , exactly."

Poland sighed, massaging his temples.

"It's fine," he said. "At least it's progress. Is there another way that I can track him?"

Romania was silent for a moment, and Poland hoped that he was thinking. If he was trying to avoid saying that there was no way, Poland wouldn't be very impressed.

"Well?" Poland prompted.

"…Da," Romania said, "but it involves enchanting an object that belongs to him."

Poland looked around the office.

"…Does it involve you enchanting the object yourself, or can you do it through the phone?" Poland asked.

"It would be preferable that I was there," Romania said.

"You can use your magic to come here instantly, right?"

"…Da."

"Then get to it."

There was a sigh on the other end, before Romania hung up. Poland waited for a while, smirking when he saw Romania appearing in front of him, looking tired.

"Please don't make me do this again," Romania said.

"No promises," Poland said.

"So, do you have something in mind to use?"

Poland gestured to the room as a whole.

"Help yourself," he said.

…

Romano smirked as he led the new arrivals to the living room. Once he arrived, the nations already there looked up briefly before straightening up.

"Bastards," Portugal spat.

Standing behind Romano were the Portuguese African nations and Azores.

"Looks like you hung out around me a lot, huh?" Romano taunted. "Or, who you thought was me." He looked around. "Now, where's Brazil?"

"Bathroom," Macau quickly said.

"Where's Madeira?" Portugal asked.

"That one's smart," Romano said. "She's managed to avoid us so far."

Portugal sighed in relief.

"Don't cause any problems," Romano said, before turning to leave.

"Wait," Mozambique said. "What happened to South Africa?"

Romano smirked, before turning to her.

"Which one?" he asked.

"Both," Angola said.

"Well… Black is dead. He was executed. Right in front of White. He was shot in the head. And as for White… She's the romantic interest of one of our allies. And they're getting closer and closer together as we speak."

Mozambique and Angola looked horrified, and Romano's smirk widened slightly. Feeling that his job was done, he turned to leave again, and this time no one stopped him.

The new arrivals stood awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing what to do or say. Portugal stood, slowly approaching them.

"Are you all alright?" Portugal asked. "Are you unharmed?"

They all nodded, before Azores suddenly launched himself towards Portugal. Portugal caught him and wrapped his arms around the shaking island.

"I'm so scared," Azores said. "What will they do to us?"

"I don't know, filho," Portugal said.

"As long as we don't cause trouble," Belgium said, "they'll leave us alone."

"That's what they said," Sint Maarten said.

"We can't fight back," Timor said. "We also can't leave."

"I know," Mozambique said. "I heard about what happened to Madagascar."

"Why do they want us here?" Cape Verde asked.

"To keep me in line," Portugal said. "They have some sort of plan with me. They brought you here to make sure that I do what they want. Though so far, they haven't really been doing much."

"But we know that it involves Netherlands as well," Indonesia said.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before the rest of the new arrivals went to hug Portugal. And the European kept each of them close, seeking comfort from them just as they were seeking it from him.

…

Brazil sighed, stepping out of the bathroom. He paused, wondering whether or not he should join the others again or if he should go and rest a while. As he was thinking, he noticed something in his peripheral vision and turned to face it.

There was nothing in his sight, but Brazil had the feeling that he was not alone. There was _something_ there.

He swallowed nervously, before taking a hesitant step forward. It took him a few steps to remember where he was, what he had lost, and he figured that if there was something there to hurt him, it would be doing him a favour. So his steps became more confident as he walked closer.

He frowned when he realised that it was in his room. He looked both ways along the hallway before he entered. Somehow, he had the feeling that whatever was about to happen was meant to be private.

His eyes widened when he saw someone sitting on his bed. Someone pale, with a wispy air about him. He knew that this was neither human nor nation.

The stranger smiled when he saw him.

"Who are you?" Brazil asked.

"My name is Adamastor," the stranger said.

Brazil gasped in shock. He had heard about Adamastor from Portugal, but he had never imagined that it was real, or that it had a human form.

As though sensing what he was thinking, the other chuckled.

"I have many forms," Adamastor said. "Just as the seasons have different forms as well. I'm sure you're aware of General Winter."

"I heard about him from Russia," Brazil said. "W-what are you doing here?"

Adamastor's smile fell, and he looked sorrowful.

"I worry for my nation," he said. "One is dead, and the other is in danger."

Brazil knew the story. He had grown up with Portugal's literature, after all. Adamastor was the personification of the storms that were located at the Cape of Storms. The coast of South Africa.

"I didn't realise that you cared," Brazil said.

"Of course I do," Adamastor said. "Especially Anika. She was such a sweet thing. You know that a nation exists even before they are born, correct?"

Brazil frowned.

"I wasn't aware," he said.

"Of course, it's not as though the nations could remember," Adamastor said. "But… their presence is there. Waiting to take shape. The moment when Portugal first sailed past the southernmost part, she came into existence. And Portugal turned back, remember?"

"Sim. He said that he had never experienced a storm like that before."

"I had sensed the change in my nation. I had felt that something was wrong, but also right. Themba was the personification of the Bantu tribes, and they were more east. And the San and Khoi didn't have their own personifications."

"Why not?"

"They never claimed the land for themselves."

"Oh. I see."

"Anika came into existence in my part of the nation. And once I sensed it, I felt the need to protect her. And Portugal, being the one to bring about the change, was someone I didn't want near her."

"You were afraid of the change."

"Yes. But at the same time, I wanted to keep the change to myself. I knew that if she were to take human form, she wouldn't acknowledge me. We'd become separate. I didn't want that. So I delayed the inevitable for as long as I could. Eventually I had to acknowledge that it would be unfair to keep her from being born. So I allowed it to happen."

"With Netherlands," Brazil said. "So, wait… Does that mean that she's actually older than me?"

"Of course. And the fact that Netherlands wasn't _planning_ on starting a colony certainly helped. He wouldn't go searching for her. She would find _him_."

"You wanted that, didn't you? You had a feeling that Portugal wouldn't be the best."

"What happened to the Dutch colony on your land?"

Brazil flinched.

"Good point," he said.

"I also gave her a little gift. A ship that she could send at any time. It's rare that she would call on the captain, but she had used him a few times to give England grief."

"This is interesting and all – and forgive me – but, what exactly _are_ you doing here?"

"You love her, don't you?" Adamastor said.

Brazil's face heated up, before he averted his eyes.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Her heart…"

"Does not belong to someone else," Adamastor interrupted. "It used to, but not anymore. It's her mind that belongs to him. But once she sees his true nature, her 'love' for him will disappear."

"But, even so… There's no way that she will return my affections."

"Are you sure?"

Brazil's eyes widened. He could feel hope stirring in his heart again and he looked up at Adamastor.

"What?" he whispered.

"She has affection for you," Adamastor said. "With proper nurturing, it would become love. The nation that is vying for her affections now… He is possessive, and he has willingly joined Amodi. His heart is filled with hate for others. While he _does_ have affection for her, a relationship with him will not go well. Especially once she learns the truth about him."

"But, what can I do?" Brazil asked. "We can't leave without risking death."

Adamastor smirked, and Brazil was reminded that this was the personification of a storm. Until now, he had spoken to the calm of the storm. Now, the storm was brewing.

"There is a way for a nation to break free from their influence," Adamastor said. "It requires a small window of opportunity, but it's possible. Now, will you help my nation or not?"

Brazil didn't even need to think and immediately nodded.

"Good," Adamastor said, standing up.

Brazil didn't flinch as the other approached, taking his right hand in his own. Brazil's eyes widened when he saw the ribbon – which had frayed and disappeared – coil once again. This time it split apart, and one end wrapped once around Adamastor's hand. He also noticed that the thread seemed thicker.

"You and I are bound together now," Adamastor said. "I will aid you in your quest, and once the window of opportunity presents itself, you will have the power to escape the chains that bind you. Save her. Please."

Brazil nodded.

"I will do my best."

…

Finland smiled sympathetically at Romania. He knew that the amount of magic the other had been using was taxing, and that the only thing Romania desired now was rest.

Romania smiled when Finland wrapped his arms around him, and he happily returned the hug.

"Can I get you anything?" Finland asked. "Or do something for you?"

"Da," Romania said. "I want you to hold me as I sleep."

Finland's smile turned warm, and he nuzzled into Romania's hair.

"Gladly," Finland said.

He heard a small noise, and turned to see Moldova, silently watching them. Moldova didn't duck away when he saw that Finland noticed him, but he frowned slightly.

Finland smiled, before leading Romania towards the bedroom. He would watch how things go between Romania and Moldova in the coming days.

…

Canada smiled as he led the way to where Quebec was imprisoned. He had received a call from Italy, and it was fortuitous that he was already on his way to Quebec. Everything had a tendency to work out in their favour.

Once Quebec came in sight Canada smiled, and he turned to Egypt, who had a smirk on his face.

"So, this is the fate you have in store for Michoacán," Egypt said, stepping closer to Quebec. "I have to admit, it's very attractive."

Egypt grabbed hold of the bony arm, and Quebec flinched. Even that small movement caused him pain.

Quebec's eyes were fixed on Canada, and Canada smirked when he saw the hidden message in those eyes.

"I'm not going to grant you mercy by killing you," Canada said. "But I _have_ a job for you. Do it, and I'll give you your freedom."

 **Adamastor is a figure that appears in Portuguese literature. It was the name given for the storms located at the Cape of Good Hope, formerly called the 'Cape of Storms' (wonder why…). South Africans aren't really aware of it, and it was by accident that I discovered it. And Adamastor was referring to the Flying Dutchman, South Africa's most famous ghost story. In basically every version I've read, the ship became a ghost ship after the captain tried to take on the storm at the Cape. One version said "I will pass through this storm, even if I have to go through hell first."**

 **Any other local legends like this that you guys can think of?**


	48. Chapter 47

**Thanks to shoujochan, Elsa, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior, pastaaddict and stormpix for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 47**

Tokyo sighed, checking his watch for the umpteenth time. They were late.

He had been told to wait for Canada in Montreal, and from there he would travel to Europe to seek out the resistance.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned around, a frown on his face.

"You're late," Tokyo said.

"Sorry about that," Canada said, smiling brightly. "There were a number of… complications."

Tokyo glanced towards the smaller figure next to Canada, wrapped in one of Canada's large coats, yet still shivering. For a moment Tokyo was reminded of a corpse… One that had already started to decay.

"Is this Quebec?" Tokyo asked.

"Yes," Canada said, glancing towards Quebec. "Have you thought of a cover story?"

"Hai. And do you have a way to control him?"

Canada smirked, before looking over to Quebec.

"He doesn't do very well with fire," Canada said.

Quebec shuddered, which was the only indication that the other was listening to the conversation.

Canada added something in Amodi's creole, which Quebec couldn't understand, but Tokyo could. Tokyo nodded his head in understanding.

"Are you sure you'll manage?" Canada asked.

"It will be no problem for me," Tokyo said. "Come."

Quebec jumped slightly at being addressed, and Tokyo narrowed his eyes. He had never seen anyone so pathetic in his life before.

The challenge would be to keep _himself_ from killing Quebec out of sheer frustration.

…

"Yes!"

A few of the people watched the young woman dancing in the airport, a look of pure joy on her face. Some of the people had smiles on their faces when they saw her.

Israel smiled, watching White as she revelled in the fact that she was back on her own soil. She was free, or at least more free than she had been in a while.

He sighed, carrying the bag filled with _Heidi_ DVDs. She had been watching it throughout the flight, and Israel now had the song stuck in his head. But it was worth it to see the pure joy on her face.

"So," he said, and she came to a stop, "where shall we go?"

"I just want to check in on my government before we go to Gordonsbaai," she said. "And maybe go to Houtbaai as well."

Israel frowned.

"How are you going to manage it?" he asked.

They were currently at the Cape Town International Airport. As far as he knew, the Union Building was located in Pretoria.

"Cape Town is my legislative capital," she explained. "They would at least know what's going on. And if not, then they could at least contact Pretoria for me. But I have faith that we'd be able to get all the information we need here."

"And… what's in Hout Bay?" he asked.

"A micronation. My little sister. I want to see if she's alright."

Israel remained silent. He knew about Amodi killing the micronations, provinces, states, regions and capitals. Either they had already killed Hout Bay, or they hadn't.

If they didn't, he would have to tolerate the micronation tagging along. If they _did_ , then he would be there to comfort White as she cried.

…

Tokyo watched Quebec while on the plane. He had managed to secure Japan's personal plane for his missions, which currently involved travelling with Quebec to Europe.

And he hated it.

When Quebec had been brought water, he spilled it all over himself in his haste to drink it. And when it came to food, he used no utensils and simply used his hands, and he didn't get very far before he vomited all over himself.

Luckily this was a private plane, or they would have had trouble with the other passengers. But the staff were already suspicious of Quebec, and they hadn't been very happy with cleaning up after him.

Tokyo's disgust for Quebec increased. He shouldn't even be alive. This… pathetic creature. If he was a human, he would have been dead _years_ ago. And now Tokyo was stuck with him.

Quebec turned his gaze to him, and Tokyo felt his anger growing at the sight of the blank stare. Even Japan's eyes held more life than Quebec's. And in that anger, Tokyo slapped Quebec across the cheek, earning a gasp from the other.

"You're a pathetic piece of trash," Tokyo said. "Canada should have killed you a long time ago."

Quebec didn't react, merely sitting still. Tokyo sneered in disgust, before leaving the cabin. The bathroom would be better than being in the presence of something that should have been put down ages ago.

…

China was meditating when he started to feel a slight disturbance in Beijing. He opened his eyes, focusing on the disturbance.

There was another nation, in his land, in his capital. If it was a member of Amodi, then it was a trap. But… what if it was someone looking for help?

He sought out the others, and he smirked when he saw Japan throwing Netherlands to the ground. The Dutchman was currently learning jujitsu, and didn't exactly appreciate the fact that his height advantage meant nothing.

"I'm going out for a little bit," China announced. "Be careful."

Japan turned to him and nodded, knowing that there was something going on that China needed to deal with. China smiled, before turning to leave.

It was nice to have everyone with him again, even if he had to deal with Netherlands. But the Dutchman was a lot better than some of the other Western nations, so China allowed it.

But if he had to choose a Western nation that he wanted there, it would have to be Portugal.

China wondered how Portugal was doing, and how Macau, Tibet and Hong Kong were faring. He wanted to save them, but he couldn't at the moment. Not without killing them the moment they were free.

He needed to check through the old writings. Perhaps one of the other Ancients had known something about it. Or perhaps he had known it at some point, but had forgotten already. It seemed that Amodi used methods that Rome had learned of. So it was only natural that they use the same methods. But naturally, the only one of their group that knew any of the methods was France, and he was dead.

As his thoughts drifted away from Portugal and France, they started to drift towards the two Koreas. Was he responsible for them joining Amodi?

 _You, China, Russia, America… Everyone that's ever wronged us. We will watch you burn to the ground._

China gasped as he remembered North Korea's words. That was what he had said the offer was when asked to join Amodi. And he had specifically mentioned China, as well as Japan.

Somehow, China _was_ to blame, but he couldn't think of anything in particular that could have caused it.

China found himself wanting to be able to speak to the two Koreas once again. He wanted them to sit down over a cup of tea and talk things out. But that wouldn't happen, now would it?

He shook his head. Right now, he needed to focus on getting to Beijing and finding out whether or not the other nation was friend or foe.

…

"Are you serious?" White asked coldly.

Israel winced, standing to the side. It would appear as though the South African government had been abolished, leaving only a few humans from Amodi countries in charge.

Humans that all knew what the nations looked like.

"I don't understand why Mr Italy didn't tell you," the Italian currently in charge said. "But you can be assured that we are taking good care of your country."

White narrowed her eyes.

"Name _three_ things that you've done to help my country," she said.

"We've abolished university fees, as well as school fees, providing free education for the people," he said. "And in doing so, we've put a stop to the 'fees must fall' movement. Two in one."

"…Touché. And the third thing?"

"All the employees in every sector received a ten percent salary increase, putting a stop to any and all ongoing strikes. You've received quite a bit of financial aid from Amodi, and we've ensured that none of your politicians have touched it. We've also sent auditors to the residences of every politician in the country, particularly the ANC members. And we've cut off all ties to the Guptas."

White pursed her lips, before nodding her head.

"Very well," she said. "As long as I don't experience a financial collapse."

"You should also be informed that, unfortunately, several of the informal settlements have experienced devastating fires. It's unclear how they had started."

She shook her head.

"It's because my colleague had died," she said. "Whatever powers govern the nations needed to balance it out. It manifests in either an epidemic, sudden death, or a catastrophe."

He nodded his head, eyes looking as though he was thinking 'now I learned something new.' She sighed, before turning around.

Israel allowed himself to be dragged out of the building, noticing that she didn't look _too_ upset. In fact, there was a small smile on her face.

"I take it that it's good news?" he asked.

"They've dealt with the biggest concerns of my country," she said. "The very issues that had kept me awake for _months_. I just hope that it doesn't crash and burn. Because if their ideas don't work, _I'm_ the one that will suffer."

Israel shrugged, accepting the explanation.

"Now I just need to check on Hout Bay," she said. "I hope she's alright."

"I'm sure she will be," Israel said. "She's your sister, right? I'm sure she has the same strength that you do."

White smiled, a slight blush on her face. The wind blew her hair, and Israel looked at the sky.

"Wow," he said. "Looks like it's going to rain."

She looked up and nodded.

"The weather here can often be unpredictable," she said. "But… there's something unnatural about this storm."

She jumped slightly, turning around. Israel frowned in concern.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I thought I felt someone grabbing my shoulder," she said. "It's probably just my imagination."

He nodded, before looking around. He noticed a cloudbank that looked a little out of place around the mountain.

"What's going on there?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "Probably Van Hunks again."

"Van Hunks?"

"A local legend. Van Hunks was a Dutchman that was famous as a chain smoker. His wife chased him out of the house whenever he would smoke. One day as he was smoking, he was approached by a stranger, another smoker. They each bragged about their skill, eventually resulting in a wager, which Van Hunks won, but not before the smoke made a heavy cloud, known as the table cloth. As it turned out, the stranger was the devil, who cursed Van Hunks for defeating him, dragging him to hell. Legend says that whenever the table cloth returns, Van Hunks and the devil are having a rematch."

Israel was silent, looking back at the mountain and feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Of course, it's just a legend," White said. "No need to worry about it."

"Of course," he said, but he couldn't help but have his doubts about it.

…

Peru entered the house, knowing that he would find the island nation in there. He quietly wandered around, until he finally found him. And then he was forced to stop in confusion.

Bahamas was in the living room, and on the coffee table there was a tray with a teapot and two cups laid out. Bahamas smiled when he saw Peru.

"I was waiting for you," he said. "Have a seat."

Peru frowned suspiciously, before he went to sit down on the chair opposite from Bahamas.

"Allow me," Bahamas said, pouring the tea. "You know, I've been waiting for you for a while. Day after day."

"Why?" Peru asked.

"I know you came to kill me," Bahamas said. "I also know that there's no way I can fight you. I can't collaborate in any way to the war. I just have one request."

"And that would be?"

"…Please. Make it as painless as possible."

Peru took a sip of the tea and smiled.

"I think I can fulfil that request," he said.

…

"Please," Malaysia begged. "Please, just kill me already."

Philippines yawned, completely ignoring him. Malaysia burst into tears.

"Haven't I suffered enough?!" he screamed, before he cried out in pain. "Please, just kill me! Or stop this madness!"

"Shh," Philippines shushed him. "Listen."

Malaysia quieted down, and his eyes widened, right before he screamed in pain. His country was being bombed. Every major city, every small town, every tiny village…

"Stop!" he shouted. "Stop! Please! Kill me, but leave my people alone! They don't deserve this!"

"Doesn't matter," Philippines said. "Don't worry. You won't live for that much longer."

Malaysia shook with sobs. He had never imagined that he would be in this situation. And that he would actually be _begging_ for death.

This was the lowest he's ever been in his life. And was the last low he would _ever_ experience. The last _thing_ that he would experience.

…

China searched around, cursing the density of Beijing's population. It was hard to see the nation in their midst.

He thought for a moment, before coming to a conclusion. He started walking in a certain direction, and he stopped when he reached his home.

Sitting on the porch was the nation intruding upon his land. And he could see that she had been waiting for a while. And that she was not an enemy.

Singapore smiled in relief, before standing up, wincing in slight discomfort as her stiff muscles were forced to move.

"It's about time you got here," she said.

"Ni hao, Singapore," China said. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"You shouldn't be," she said. "I came to seek asylum. Malaysia… I don't want to go through what he's going through."

"What is he going through?"

"It would seem that they had decided to wipe out his population before they killed him."

China cursed, massaging his temples.

"Of course," China said. "You're welcome to join us."

Singapore smiled in relief, and China started to lead the way to where his car had been parked at the city's outskirts. He didn't want to have to navigate the streets in a car while searching for someone. That would _not_ end well.

…

Russia was working on his computer, trying to find a satellite that worked, when he shuddered from the cold. He turned around to see General Winter standing behind him, a bald eagle on his shoulder.

"What is that?" Russia asked.

"This thing was trying to fly towards your location," the General said. "It has a letter."

Russia frowned, before taking the letter from the shivering bird.

 _Yo, this is America. We figured we'd go old school if we wanted to talk to each other._

Russia rolled his eyes. Of course.

 _Anyway, send Liberty when you need to deliver a message._

Russia glanced towards the shivering bird.

"General, might I ask you a favour?" Russia asked.

…

White screamed in horror, collapsing against Israel. Israel held her close, eyes fixed on the sight that horrified her.

They had gone to Hout Bay's house, and the micronation – a girl in her early teens – lay in a pool of her blood, glassy eyes staring at the door. As though hoping for someone to walk in and save her.

Israel held White as she cried, her sister's life lost and she was unable to save her.

…

Andorra was pacing nervously, with Basque, Catalonia and Picardy watching him with a bored expression. Since he was an official nation, he had more power at his disposal. But since he was small, he would be an easy target for Amodi, and so the regions had decided that he would be part of their group.

"What if Amodi learns of this?" Andorra asked, not for the first time. "When they find out, _I'll_ be the first to suffer. My geography doesn't help."

"And how do you think _we_ feel?" Basque asked, completely fed-up at this point. "We're _part_ of nations that they had conquered. You're just nestled between them."

Andorra was taken aback by the other's statement, and he sighed.

"You told them that they should come _here_ , si?" Andorra said.

"Si," Catalonia said. "With you being a nation and all, and since you're still not conquered by Amodi, your land is the best choice."

Andorra wrung his hands together, and jumped when there was a knock on the door. Picardy went to answer it, and Andorra looked considerably paler.

"What if it's _them_?" he asked.

Catalonia arched an eyebrow.

"How have _you_ been recognised as a nation?" she asked.

"Guys," Picardy called out. "It's Madeira."

Andorra sagged in relief, and Basque and Catalonia exchanged a look before sighing in exasperation.

…

"We've received word from Turkey," Yemen said. "He says that they have Syria with them."

"Is that good or bad?" America asked.

"It saves _us_ the trouble of having to track him down," Oman said. "And spares _us_ from being around both of you at the same time."

"Syria doesn't like you much," Yemen provided.

"I figured," America said. "So, now we're just waiting for news from the Commie."

The temperature suddenly plummeted, and everyone on board the plane grabbed themselves. None of them were particularly used to or fond of the cold.

"What the hell?" America questioned.

"Ivan sent me."

They turned to see a semi-transparent figure with America's bald eagle on his shoulder.

"Liberty!" America called out, and the bird flew over towards him.

"He said to not send the bird again," the stranger said. "It will not survive another round with the Russian cold. Instead, you should just ask for General Winter."

"I a-assume it's y-you?" Michoacán said.

The General nodded, before he disappeared. Everyone sighed in relief when the temperature rose.

"Now we just need to send a message to China," Oman said.

Before anyone could say anything, America suddenly screamed, curling in on himself. The others' eyes widened, but Michoacán was the first to approach.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"B-bastards," America gasped. "They've attacked a nuclear reactor."

 **So, South Africa has three capitals: Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein.**

 **Fees must fall are the students protesting for free education, but… Long story short, that's not going to happen, since the universities have their own expenses and many of them would need to work on damage control, since the protestors are fond of vandalism and arson. And a worker at one of the universities has already been killed by their actions. Some universities have been forced to close in order to protect the rest of the students and faculty. And some of the demands are no longer about the fees, but race. They want the white lecturers to be fired, since they would much rather have an unqualified black lecturer than a qualified white lecturer that knows what they're doing. Luckily, my university has been quiet regarding the protests, and the protestors aren't allowed on campus, unless they want to be arrested. And security at my university is pretty tight.**

 **The Gupta family basically owns the ANC, and because of that, they basically own South Africa. There are a lot of allegations that many of the appointments of government officials have been paid for by the Guptas.**


	49. Chapter 48

**Thanks to shoujochan, Terra, ScandinavianTrash, Myrna Maeve, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 48**

Liechtenstein happily skipped around, somewhat disturbing everyone that ran into her. But she didn't care. She was happy.

She managed to hurt America. She knew that having a nuclear reactor going wild tended to hurt the nations involved. She had learned that with the Chernobyl incident.

Belarus had done the honour of setting _that_ up. They wanted to see what it would do. And with the tsunami that struck Japan a few years ago they once again saw the effects it had on a nation.

And now she wanted to know what the effects would be on America.

She knew that America wouldn't suffer as much as Ukraine and Japan had, being larger than they were, but that was alright. There were other reactors she could hit.

She went to Molossia's room, her smile faltering. Molossia was in a coma, but since he was a micronation he had inherited the nations' resistance to negative effects, which meant that he had no need of life support.

Still, they had hooked him up to a heart monitor to make sure that everything was alright.

"Are you alright, Jason?" she asked gently. "I… I launched an attack on America. A nuclear reactor in New York. I'll… I'll work on the others soon enough, but there's a chance that there will be a chain reaction, after all." She swallowed nervously. "Wake up soon. I miss you."

…

Yemen, Oman and Michoacán were watching America. He had been knocked unconscious by the pain and was breathing harshly, his body covered in sweat. There were a few patches of radiation burns on his arms.

" _Now_ what are we going to do?" Oman asked. "The strongest nation here, and he's out of commission."

Michoacán bit her lip, looking thoughtful.

"I think we may need to adjust course a little," she said.

"Oh?" Yemen prompted.

"A while back I did some research on the nations with the strongest military strength. Unfortunately, quite a few of them are Amodi nations. Or dead. But a few are on our side."

"Like America," Oman said. "So, who do you have in mind?"

"Well… the strongest, non-involved or affected nation who also happens to be close by is Israel."

"No!" both Oman and Yemen shouted.

Michoacán felt her eye twitch in annoyance.

"What do you think is more important?" she asked. "Your silly conflict with Israel, or getting all the help we could get?"

"I am _not_ working with the Jew," Oman stated firmly.

"Look, we need as many strong nations on our side as possible," Michoacán said. "You can sort out this ridiculous feud while we're at it. Honestly, I could never understand you Middle Easterners. All of your arguments are because of three different opinions of the _exact same god_."

"Not _all_ of them…"

"We've started our descent," Yemen said, looking out the window. "We're already in Qatar. Why don't we discuss this later?"

Michoacán nodded, and Oman looked less than pleased about the situation.

…

"This place is actually pretty comfortable," Wales said, lounging on one of the armchairs in the living room.

Hutt River smirked, and he looked down at Seborga, who was curled up next to him. Wy and Sealand were on the couch, trying to avoid looking at the two older micronations.

Wales had used his magic to transport them to Amodi's base of operations in Vatican, and New Zealand and Australia had been sent to another room where they would remain out of the way. After reporting to Italy, the new arrivals had decided to take the opportunity to relax.

Wales was a little sleepy, having exerted a lot of energy in torturing and killing his brothers. The footage that had been taken by Hutt River was being watched by Italy, and afterwards he would allow Liechtenstein to watch it, since she was the one that had requested it in the first place.

"Can we turn on the TV?" Wy asked.

"Of course," Seborga said, gesturing to the remotes.

"Will that even work?" Wales asked as Sealand reached for a remote. "I mean, I thought that…"

"We have our own satellite network," Seborga said. "We have regular news updates, as seen from the humans' perspective. And then we have a wide selection of movies to watch. If you're interested in adding any Welsh movies…"

Wales smiled bitterly.

"There's not a lot to offer," Wales said. "England took the credit for it anyway."

"Not anymore," Hutt River said. "England is dead. You're finally free."

Wales's smile turned more sincere.

"You're right," he said, looking at the show that Sealand had decided to watch.

…

Qatar jumped when there was a knock on his door. He was breathing heavily, before taking a few steadying breaths, grabbing the nearest firearm he had laid out for his protection.

"Qatar, are you in there?" a familiar voice asked.

Qatar frowned slightly. He recognised the voice as Yemen's. What was _he_ doing there?

"W-why do you w-want to know?" Qatar asked.

"We're getting you out of here." This time, it sounded like Oman's voice. "Egypt's on a killing spree, and we managed to temporarily incapacitate him, but it's not safe for you here."

Qatar was still hesitant, but this time he approached the door. He heard a frustrated sigh from the other side.

"Both of us have holes in us from being shot by Egypt's modified guns," Yemen said. "If we decided to attack, you'll easily be able to overpower us."

That was _slightly_ reassuring, and Qatar started to unlock and open the door, though he kept the chain in place. He saw that Yemen's arm was in a sling, confirming his story, and he briefly closed the door again to undo the chain before opening the door completely.

"About time," Oman said. "You can be kind of annoying, you know?"

Qatar looked behind the other two.

"I-is it just the t-two of you?" Qatar stuttered.

Yemen sighed in annoyance, and Qatar flinched. He couldn't help that he had a bit of a stutter problem when he was nervous. And unfortunately for him, he was as nervous as he was paranoid.

"America's on the plane," Oman said.

"You're travelling w-with _America_?"

"Yes. Along with a state from Mexico who's trying to go out on her own. Both are anti-Amodi."

"But as you can imagine," Yemen said, "we'd prefer not to be the only ones around with the two Westerners."

"That, and Michoacán can be pretty scary at times. _She_ was the one to shoot Egypt in the head."

"I t-take it th-that _that's_ w-what you m-meant w-when you said y-you incap-pacitated h-him," Qatar said.

Oman sighed.

"Kasun, we have _got_ to do something about your stuttering," Oman said.

…

Afghanistan walked confidently among the Taliban soldiers. She was searching for someone, and she shot a dark look to everyone that sneered her way.

She _hated_ interacting with him, but she figured that this was what had to be done.

She entered his home, eyes immediately falling on him, lounging around as though _he_ owned the place, and she was the unwelcome but not unfamiliar guest.

"Afghanistan," he sneered. "To what do I owe this displeasure."

"I came here on a diplomatic mission," she said. "Though I highly doubt _you_ would know anything about _that_ , Taliban."

He narrowed his eyes, and she made to sit in front of him, but he stopped her.

"I will not permit a _woman_ to sit with me," he said.

"Like _equals_?" she said.

"Exactly. A woman can _never_ be equal to a man."

She smiled sarcastically.

"Like I said," she said, "you know _nothing_ of diplomacy. You are aware of a war raging outside _my_ country, right?"

"And within," he said, smirking slightly. "What's your point?"

"I want to be able to protect my country against them."

"And so you've come crawling to _me_. What, do you want a truce?"

"No," she said, pulling out a gun. "I came to get _you_ out of the way. And since you're not a _true_ nation, this _will_ kill you."

He glared at her.

"You will _regret_ this," he said.

"No, I won't," she said as she pulled the trigger.

She left his house, seeing the people – _her_ people now, once again – rushing to see what had happened. She hated the fact that she had to keep him alive for so long, but a nation couldn't go against their people.

When the news of the war had reached her, and what they were capable of doing, she and Pakistan had conspired to get rid of their joint problem once and for all. It would be easier for them to defend their countries if they didn't have _him_ to worry about.

The problem arose when it came down to tracking him down.

She shook her head. It was over and done with. She would send her eagle to give the message to Pakistan, and then she would work on fixing her country. And she'd start by moving it towards the twenty first century.

…

China was filling Singapore in on everything that had happened and what they had learned. She in turn filled him in on how things had gone from the outside perspective. She mentioned the fear that all of them felt at being outside. There was no pattern in how Amodi moved, and neutrality meant nothing to them. When she had caught wind of Malaysia being attacked, she had decided that it would be a good time to move out.

"So," Singapore said, "North Korea bit off his own tongue?"

"Shi," China said. "He also broke his own fingers. And you know what the worst part was?"

"I'm almost afraid to."

"He looked as though he was only in slight discomfort," China said. "Not in agony. His pain tolerance is incredible."

Singapore was silent for a moment.

"Do you think _all_ of them have that tolerance?" she asked.

"It's a possibility," China sighed. "And it would make sense that they would want to make themselves stronger against torture."

"…Would _you_ torture them?"

"I'll do it to find out what they've done to Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau."

"Do you think they're still alive?"

"I _know_ they're still alive. What I want to know is why. With their disregard for others' lives, _why_ are they still alive?"

Singapore pursed her lips.

"I see your point," she said.

…

Palestine flinched, placing her hands on her ears as another bomb descended. This one sounded far too close for comfort, and she had a feeling that her shelter wouldn't be a shelter for that much longer.

She was probably the first person to notice that there was a change in the actions of the Israeli army. They had become more aggressive. And she had heard that _she_ had a price on her head, to be delivered _alive_ , to _Egypt_ of all places.

And yes, she had noticed that the Egyptian army had become involved as well.

With the revelation of Amodi and the nations that formed a part of it, she realised what was going on. _Israel_ was part of Amodi as well. They must have recruited him, or maybe he had joined a long time ago.

She whimpered as another bomb came falling down. She could feel the pain inflicted on her land, her people. But she could do nothing to stop it.

She wondered how many people _knew_ about Israel being part of Amodi, since he wasn't announced with the other nations. It could mean that he had come in later, or that his involvement was unknown. Or perhaps both.

She wished that she could get to safety. Could get to someone that could help. But she didn't dare leave the safety of the shelter. It was a guarantee to be killed.

All she could hope for was that someone would save her, and that her supplies didn't run out before that happened.

…

Belarus entered the room that she shared with North and smiled when she saw that he was sleeping. When he wasn't working or spending time with her he was sleeping. Sleeping helped him heal faster.

She crawled in next to him as gently as she could, trying hard not to wake him. He gave a slight groan, and she was afraid that she had woken him, but he simply pulled her closer, his breathing remaining slow and steady and his eyes closed. She smiled when she realised that his body was merely reacting to her presence.

She pecked him on the lips and closed her eyes, letting out a content sigh as he pulled her closer.

…

Tibet and Hong Kong were watching Laos intently. The other had gone to sleep a little earlier, saying that he wasn't feeling well, and looking at him it was clear why.

Laos was having a prophetic dream.

"I still don't understand how this works," Hong Kong said, glancing at Tibet.

"Laos's third eye is always open," Tibet said. "But it mostly manifests in dreams. He is incredibly receptive to messages from the universe. And when the universe calls upon him, he _needs_ to answer."

Hong Kong was quiet for a moment, before looking back at Laos, who was extremely pale.

"Is it healthy?" Hong Kong asked.

"It all depends on the message he receives," Tibet said.

And in that very moment Laos's eyes snapped open, and he gasped for breath as though he just surfaced from being underwater for a long time.

"What is it?" Tibet asked, at the other's side instantly.

"W-water," Laos said.

"I'll go get some in the bathroom," Hong Kong said, going towards the en-suite bathroom.

"What did you see?" Tibet asked.

Laos swallowed nervously.

"I-I d-don't w-want t-to t-tell," Laos said. "It… It l-looks l-l-like _th-they_ w-would w-want t-to kn-ow a-about it."

Tibet knew what Laos was saying.

"This is something that involves the nations of Amodi, isn't it?" he said.

Laos nodded, and accepted the cup of water that Hong Kong brought him. He swallowed it all instantly.

"What did you see?" Hong Kong asked.

"A-a s-spider's w-web, m-made f-from r-red s-silk," Laos said. "One o-of the threads b-broke, a-and a-after that… Fire. F-fire that b-burned e-everything. And b-blood. B-bloody r-rivers."

Tibet and Hong Kong exchanged a look. Tibet swallowed nervously.

"Do you know what that means?" Hong Kong asked.

Laos whimpered, clenching his eyes shut. He gripped his head and shook it, which either meant that he didn't know, or knew and didn't want to talk about it.

"Was there anything else?" Tibet asked.

"Y-yes," Laos said. "A b-broken m-mirror, and a b-blizzard."

"Are they connected?"

"…I-I d-don't know y-yet."

…

Mexico stared outside her window, looking a tad bit annoyed. Confederacy was getting a little anxious, standing behind Mexico.

It was snowing. And not a gentle flurry, but a raging blizzard. In _Mexico_. And it had come without any prior warning, except for a bulletin from San Marino to notify everyone that Russia had employed the help of General Winter.

"I don't like this one bit," Confederacy said.

"Agreed," Mexico said. "But if that's how they want to play it… Well, I'm going to call in La Catrina to help us out."

…

"No," Qatar said firmly. "Absolutely not."

"Told you," Oman said, looking at Michoacán.

She sighed, massaging her forehead.

"Look, I know you don't like Israel very much…" she started.

"It's not just that," Qatar interrupted. "I haven't seen him around for a while, and I _know_ he's alive. He's been missing since around the time Germany was bombed. And the Israeli army's been pretty active around Palestine. More aggressive. And he's not fortifying his country against an attack. It looks like he's preparing _to_ attack. So, this either means he's an opportunist, or…"

"Or he could be working for Amodi," Yemen finished.

"What proof do you have?" Michoacán asked.

"N-nothing with me, but…" Qatar said.

"He's paranoid," Yemen said. "He always makes it a point to learn what everyone around here is doing."

Michoacán sighed.

"We _need_ to get in contact with someone that could confirm it," she said. "And unfortunately, since we can't use modern communication…"

"Send a message to Turkey," Oman interrupted. "He's in Syria now, right? They'd be able to tell what's going on better than we can."

"And in the meantime, we can go to Bahrain, as we discussed," Yemen said.

Michoacán nodded her head, before glancing over towards America.

"We'll have to do all we can, I suppose," she said.

…

Italy walked into Molossia's room, eyes immediately falling on Liechtenstein, who sat next to the bed. She looked up at him briefly before turning back to Molossia.

"Here," he said, handing a cell phone to her. "It's Hutt River's. You asked that he film the murder of the UK?"

"Danke," she said. "And yes. I really want to see someone being killed right now."

"The nuclear reactor has already killed sixteen people."

"It's not enough. We need to destroy another one."

Italy nodded his head, and the two looked up when Molossia groaned. Liechtenstein's eyes widened when she saw Molossia's own eyes open.

"Jason!" she exclaimed, hugging him happily. "You're awake!"

"Y-yeah," Molossia said. "America really did some damage."

Italy's eyes narrowed. He could tell that something was wrong.

"I was so worried," Liechtenstein said. "I thought… I thought…"

"Lili…"

She looked up, seeing Molossia smile at her fondly. He cupped her cheek and pulled her closer for a kiss. She returned it happily.

Italy could feel that something was seriously wrong. He looked down at his right hand, seeing the ribbon tied around it. It connected with the other two, since he provided the means for them to be together.

Molossia was the one to end the kiss, too soon for her liking. He looked grim, and his face was _extremely_ pale.

"Jason?" Liechtenstein questioned.

"I'm… sorry," he said. "The damage… There's too much. I… I love you."

Her eyes widened as his closed, and he went limp.

She screamed as something _snapped_.

 **I've been meaning to add someone with a stuttering problem. So now we have Qatar. And Laos stutters when he's had a terrifying prophetic dream.**

 **I've been asked about Afghanistan and Palestine, and here they are. And I seriously enjoyed killing Taliban. I can't stand sexists or racists, to be honest.**

 **Mirai Nikki reference, anyone?**

 **It's exams, and like I said in A Different Kind of Vampire, it usually means that I have a lot of time to write. And it's plot bunny season. First exam plot bunny: Celebrity Stalker. It's fairly common for celebrities to get a stalker. But what if the** _ **celebrity**_ **is the stalker? And the one he's stalking is just a fan, or maybe not. Still haven't decided. And I was thinking that the one being stalked should already be in a relationship. I can kind of see England as the stalker, and perhaps Italy as the one being stalked. I just don't know who Italy's boyfriend should be. What do you guys think of that idea?**


	50. Chapter 49

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, Terra, pastaaddict, Myrna Maeve, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior and an anon for reviewing. 450 reviews, thanks.**

 **This chapter focuses on the members of Amodi and the effects of Molossia's death.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 49**

Italy gasped in pain, leaning against the nearby wall with one hand while the other hand clutched his chest. The ribbon connecting to Molossia had snapped, and he was feeling the effects. And so was Liechtenstein. And because their Bonds formed a spider web, everyone bound could feel the effects, depending on the ribbons.

Since Molossia was bound by the Bonds of Love through Liechtenstein, everyone else with a red ribbon would feel the effects. And the role they played in getting the two together would determine how much it hurt. Molossia was also bound with the yellow ribbon, which meant that everyone sharing the Bonds of Desire would feel its effects. Like the other micronations.

And Italy, being the source of both Bonds, felt twice the effects.

The red and yellow ribbons were present and glowing, telling him that the Bonds had been severed. But now the Bonds would try to mend themselves.

Luckily, Molossia wasn't particularly filled with hate, or it could have been _really_ painful.

But the one in the most amount of pain was Liechtenstein, and it wasn't just because of the Bonds. She had lost her lover. Someone that she had trusted with all her heart. Someone who she was completely and utterly devoted to. And someone that treated her like a princess. He _should_ have healed from his injuries. But that didn't happen.

Perhaps they _should_ have placed him on life support.

Liechtenstein's turmoil was too painful to watch. She screamed her sorrow, clinging to the corpse. The red ribbon was clear, but it looked as though it was burning, without the fire. The ends became black and were slowly consumed and became ash. The _black_ ribbon, on the other hand…

Italy saw the ribbon expanding, wrapping around Liechtenstein's entire body. The ribbon also increased in diameter, becoming as thick as duct tape. If it wasn't brought under control, it could prove disastrous for them.

He heard running footsteps and turned to see Hutt River, Seborga, Vatican and San Marino approaching. Each of them looked worried, but Hutt River and Seborga especially.

"What happened?" Seborga asked.

"Molossia succumbed to his injuries," Italy explained.

Seborga's eyes widened, and he and Hutt River quickly ducked into the room. San Marino, Vatican and Italy hovered close to the door.

Seborga and Hutt River approached the distraught Liechtenstein, and they each placed a calming hand on one of her shoulders. She didn't lash out as Italy had expected.

"If you need our help getting revenge, just call on us," Hutt River said.

"Jason was our friend," Seborga said. "And they will pay for what they did to him."

Italy now understood why Liechtenstein let them near. They felt the loss as much as her. Friendship didn't have any ribbons, but it was a bond equally as strong as love.

"I will inform Canada and Mexico to give up on America's land," Italy said. "You may do to the country whatever you want. And you have all of our resources at your disposal."

"Thank you," she said, her voice cold. "America will pay."

Italy sighed in relief, seeing the black ribbon being tied to him again. In Liechtenstein's current state of mind, it wouldn't be a good idea to have her going about uncontrolled.

Italy briefly wondered what was going on with the other micronations. He also realised that the other nations of Amodi would want to know what was going on.

"Carlino," Italy said, "man the phones. The others would want to know what's going on."

San Marino nodded before running away. Vatican bit his lip and Italy sighed.

"Angelo, I want you to try to console Liechtenstein," Italy said. "At least so that she didn't lash out at any of _us_."

Vatican nodded, and he cautiously approached Liechtenstein.

"And I'll go see what Sealand and Wy are up to," Italy muttered, walking towards the living room.

He found the two micronations sitting next to Wales, crying their eyes out. Wales was trying to comfort them, and Italy had to smile. Even if he could prove to be a ruthless killing machine, he was still the gentlest member of the UK brothers.

Well, what _used_ to be the UK.

Sealand peeked at Italy and sniffed.

"Is it true?" Sealand asked. "Is Jason dead?"

Italy solemnly nodded his head, and the two bawled harder as they clung to Wales.

"Did you feel anything?" Italy asked, looking at Wales.

"I felt a slight pain in my chest," Wales said. "I actually thought it was gas at first."

Italy nodded, having figured that Wales would at least have felt _something_. The Bonds of Hate weren't directly affected, but they were still tightly woven with the Bonds of Love and Desire, and as such a ripple could be felt.

"I want you three to be careful," Italy said. "And I'd recommend that you stay out of Liechtenstein's way."

…

Belarus had drifted off, but was shocked awake by an immense pain in her chest. It actually felt as though something had snapped inside her. She heard North cry out in pain as well, before a harsh scream could be heard through the house.

"What happened?" Belarus asked, clinging to North.

North looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Molossia's been injured," he said. "Do you think…?"

Belarus's eyes widened for two reasons. The first was because of what North was implying. The second was that he was speaking, though his speech came out difficult. His tongue wasn't fully healed yet, so he had trouble with the consonants in particular.

She placed her hand on his cheek and he leaned into it.

"Don't speak," she said. "You're still not fully recovered."

He nodded, and she sighed.

"If what you're saying is true," she said, "then… poor Liechtenstein. I _would_ go to hear how she's faring, but… I get the feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea to get in her way at the moment."

North held her closer and buried his face in her hair, and she smiled, his message being conveyed clearly without the use of words.

"I love you too," she said. "And I will _never_ let anything else happen to you."

…

South and Switzerland were travelling through Pakistan, searching for the nation. So far he had been able to avoid them, but it wouldn't be for much longer.

They gasped as they each felt a strong pain in their hearts, and they each unconsciously grabbed their chests. They saw the red ribbons around their hands and their eyes widened, before turning to face each other.

The people around them had noticed that something was wrong, and the two immediately made their way to a quiet place. Once the humans realised that they were enemies, all hell would break loose.

"What happened?" South asked, looking worriedly at Switzerland.

"I don't know," Switzerland said, taking out his phone. "But I'm going to find out."

South waited patiently as Switzerland called the base, watching intently.

"What do you mean he's dead?" Switzerland snapped.

South raised an eyebrow, his immediate reaction being jealousy. Who could Switzerland care so much about that he'd be upset about his dead.

"I'll call Lili later," Switzerland said. "For now, it would be best to give her space."

South's eyebrows furrowed. Did something happen to Liechtenstein?

He then remembered that Molossia had been severely injured, and his jealousy was replaced by concern.

Switzerland hung up the phone and turned to South.

"Molossia is dead," Switzerland said.

"Dammit," South said. "So… what we felt…?"

"The Bonds snapping. San Marino suggested that we take a break. We don't know yet if it's made us weaker or not."

"Looks like Pakistan gets to live a little bit longer. So, who's going to tell India?"

…

Romano and India's prisoners were in the kitchen, enjoying their breakfast. Romano had given them permission to use the kitchen whenever they wanted, and luckily the two Amodi nations didn't join them for meals. They didn't think that they would be able to handle it.

Portugal suddenly cried out in pain, clutching his head. A yellow ribbon became visible on his wrist.

"What's wrong?" Brazil asked in alarm.

"Something's happened," Portugal said. "I don't know what it could be, though."

He saw the ribbon around his wrist, and his expression became unreadable. He quickly excused himself, leaning against the wall every few steps. He knew that he would need to speak to Romano. No matter how emotionally painful it would turn out to be.

He found Romano and India in an office, and both of them were clutching their chests. Romano especially looked as though he was having trouble breathing, as though there was a constricting feeling. Both of their red ribbons were visible, and a yellow ribbon around Romano's wrist.

As though sensing his presence the two turned to him. Romano took a deep breath, before he approached him.

Portugal took a nervous step back. Thus far, ever since the illusion had been broken, Romano refrained from having a scowl on his face. But now, he looked so much like the Romano that Portugal had known that it was quite unsettling.

Romano grabbed onto Portugal's arm and dragged him into the room. He closed the door behind them and dragged Portugal further in.

"W-what's going on?" Portugal asked.

"One of our own has been killed," Romano said, throwing Portugal to the floor. "He was bound by desire. The same as you."

"You felt it, didn't you?" India asked. "That's why you're here, isn't it?"

"I…" Portugal stammered.

"Don't lie," Romano said. "We're not in the mood for games right now."

Portugal swallowed nervously but nodded. Romano and India exchanged a look.

"So, you _are_ bound in our web," Romano said. "And soon you'll be tied even tighter."

"W-what are you…?"

"Never mind for now," India said. "The most important thing to remember is that you're tightly woven with us. Which means that if _we_ go down, _you_ go down."

"It might be reluctant," Romano said, "but that doesn't change the fact that you're one of us."

…

Canada smiled, carrying a tray with hot chocolate and biscuits. He was taking it to Egypt in the living room.

He cried out as he felt a horrible pain in his chest, and he was forced to clutch his chest, sending the tray and its contents crashing to the floor. His red ribbon became visible, along with a yellow ribbon around his wrist. His eyes widened. There was only one person who the yellow ribbon was tied to.

He quickly pulled out his phone and called San Marino, but there was no answer. He then went towards the living room, wanting to know if Egypt felt it too.

Egypt was on his phone, rubbing his chest. He turned to Canada and sighed.

"It would seem that we would need to wait before we get answers," Egypt sighed.

Canada sat down next to Egypt, groaning due to the pain in his chest.

"It's Molossia," Canada said. "I think he's dead."

"Liechtenstein is probably besides herself with rage," Egypt said.

"I understand. Given how angry I was after you were shot…"

Canada wrapped his arm around Egypt and pulled him closer. Egypt sighed.

"Did you drop something?" Egypt asked. "I heard a crash."

"Yeah," Canada said. "I'll go clean it later."

The two remained like that for a while, only moving to raise their heads when Kumajiro padded into the room. The bear looked at them with a cocked head.

"Did something happen?" Kumajiro asked.

"Molossia's dead," Canada said.

The bear was silent for a moment.

"One of our own has died?" Kumajiro asked.

Egypt nodded his head.

"Be careful," Kumajiro said, before walking away.

"He's right," Egypt said. "We can't afford to be careless anymore. I was already injured, and now look what happened to Molossia."

"If one of us dies, we _all_ feel its effects," Canada said. "And our strength would suffer as well."

Canada's phone rang, and he quickly answered.

"What exactly happened?" Canada asked.

"Molossia succumbed to his wounds," Italy said. "A micronation is significantly weaker. We should have thought about it sooner."

Canada sighed.

"What now?" Canada asked.

"You may want to forget about claiming America's land as your own for a while," Italy said. "At least until Liechtenstein's been satisfied."

"Any idea what she has in mind?"

"I don't know, but if you try to take America's land now, then your claims would only serve to injure you."

"I understand."

…

Poland had already started his hike up the Tarvagatai Mountains. He stayed away from the main roads, already knowing that Mongolia wouldn't be there. If he was hiding there, then he had to have a base.

Poland carried a letter opener in his pocket, laced with magic. Romania had enchanted it in order to help him find Mongolia. And he could already feel how it tugged him in a certain direction.

He gasped when he suddenly felt something snap in his chest, and he clutched his chest in pain. He saw the ribbons around his right hand and wrist and his eyes widened. Something had happened. Something _bad_.

He wanted to know what had happened, but he knew that he needed to give it time. And besides, he needed to wait for the pain to pass.

After a few minutes he took out his phone and dialled the familiar number.

"Feliks," Italy's voice said, tired but with a sense of relief and happiness.

"Feli, what's going on?" Poland asked.

"Molossia was injured from America attacking his land, right? Well, he succumbed to his injuries. Liechtenstein… Her hatred knows no bound. You should have seen it. The ribbons… they're wider now. And thicker."

"What is she going to do?"

"I have no idea. At the moment she's grieving."

"I can imagine. If anything happened to you…"

There was a chuckle on the other end, warm and tender.

"You have no idea how much I want to hold you right now," Italy said. "How long before you're back?"

"I don't know," Poland sighed. "Mongolia gave me the slip. I'm tracking him right now. Up a mountain."

"Please, be careful."

"Don't worry," Poland said. "I won't let Mongolia hurt me. Not again."

Poland had faked many of his defeats, allowing them to happen. That wasn't the case with Mongolia. Mongolia had genuinely hurt him, and was probably the reason why he had ended up as damaged as he was anyway.

The same with Russia.

"Come back soon," Italy said. "Ti amo."

"Też cię kocham," Poland said, before hanging up the phone.

The sooner he found Mongolia, the sooner he could return to his lover.

…

Finland had drifted off at some point while he was laying with Romania. It was just too peaceful for him _not_ to.

His eyes snapped open and he cried out in pain as something seemed to snap in his chest. He heard Romania cry out as well and looked towards his lover.

He noticed that the red ribbons around both of their hands were visible.

"What's going on?" Finland asked, clutching his chest.

Romania was silent for a moment before he sighed.

"One of the ribbons snapped," Romania said. "The pain reverberates with the rest of us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finland asked.

"Someone has died. One of us."

Finland's eyes widened.

"Who?" he asked.

Romania shook his head.

"I don't know," he said. "I think we should find out."

Finland nodded, reaching for the bedside table to get his phone. He waited for a while with the phone pressed against his ear, and sighed after a while.

"There's no answer," he said.

"They're probably scrambling around, trying to figure out what's going on themselves," Romania said. "Let's wait a while, and then we'll call again. Or _they_ could call _us_."

Finland nodded.

"I think it would be pretty important," Finland said. "They _should_ call us."

Romania sighed, snuggling up to Finland.

"We should probably get up now," Romania said.

"Can't it wait?" Finland asked.

"It's almost dinnertime. We don't want any of our prisoners in the kitchen."

Finland winced.

"Yeah," he said. "Especially Iceland."

…

Mexico had made some hot chocolate, and she and Confederacy were drinking it while looking through the window. The blizzard had gotten worse.

Confederacy groaned, rubbing her chest a little. Mexico swallowed a little too fast, and she was choking slightly.

"You okay?" Confederacy asked.

"Si," Mexico said. "I just suddenly got a strange feeling. You know what it feels like when your muscles jump?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think something in my chest jumped."

"Funny. I think I felt something like that too."

They grew silent after that, alternating their attentions between the window and the TV. When Mexico's phone rang she sighed, taking it out.

"Hello?" she prompted.

"Mexico, it's Italy," the voice on the other end said. "You may want to give up on taking any more of America's land."

"What? Why?"

"America did something to majorly piss off Liechtenstein, and she's going to take out her anger on his land. She's actually quite sadistic, and with the amount of rage she has now… If you attempt to take his land and her actions overlap, then _you_ will be the one to get hurt."

"But… could we at least get the former Confederate states?"

Confederacy perked up when she heard this, and she paid closer attention to the side of the conversation that she could hear.

"If there's anything left," Italy said. "She's already attacked one of his nuclear reactors, and that was _before_ the last straw."

"…Oh," Mexico said. "I understand. What did the gringo _do_ , exactly?"

"Killed her lover."

Mexico glanced towards Confederacy.

"I can understand that," Mexico said. "Fine. Is there anything you want me to do in the meantime?"

"You can relax," Italy said. "I'll contact you again when we need your help. And I'll make sure she doesn't attack the land that already belongs to you."

"Alright. Adios."

She hung up the phone and slumped in her seat.

"What was that about?" Confederacy asked.

Mexico shook her head before she smiled.

"Hey, why don't we take a vacation?" she asked. "We have Hawaii now, don't we?"

 **The reason why Mexico and Confederacy aren't in any more pain from the Bonds being severed is because they didn't get together through their connection with Amodi, like the others. They were together** _ **before**_ **they joined Amodi.**

 **I've been hanging out on TV Tropes, getting ideas for what to write and what to read/watch. What Liechtenstein is on is the Roaring Rampage of Revenge. I was planning it** _ **before**_ **I found out what it's called.**


	51. Chapter 50

**Thanks to Eternal Nexus Warrior, Terra, shoujochan, Space Trooper, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and magicflyingmintbunnies for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 50**

Israel sighed, watching White intently. She was still in shock after seeing her sister's corpse. He had thought that taking her to the beach might comfort her, but it only seemed to depress her further. It was still Hout Bay's beach, but she could clearly feel her sister's absence.

Israel had left her alone for a little while in order to procure ice-cream in the hopes that it would cheer her up. It was during that time that he had felt a great pain in his chest, along with the red ribbon appearing. He had been confused, but wasn't too concerned.

At least, until San Marino called.

Luckily, he had been away from White when he received the call, which told him that one of their members had been killed. There was also a warning to stay away from Liechtenstein.

He was also informed of the fact that Egypt was injured, but that Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates were all dead. And that Oman, Yemen and Qatar were travelling with America. Syria was apparently with Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary.

Well, it was at least a start with tearing down the Middle Eastern nations. And Israel wondered if he was the only one that could see potential disaster for their enemies.

But that had been a while back. He had returned to White with ice-cream, but she didn't even open the wrapper. It was probably completely melted by now.

He knew the importance that she _not_ realise that he was a willing member of Amodi. She had already lost so much.

But Amodi had helped him to be with her again. And for that, he was grateful. Not to mention, they were destroying the nations surrounding his own country. When he finally decided to return, the Middle East would be a safer place.

For now, he would do whatever White wanted him to do. He would make sure that she truly fell in love with him.

And he wouldn't let _anyone_ take her away from him.

…

At some point after Portugal had left the kitchen, Brazil had felt a tug on his hair, followed by a whisper.

"I wish to speak to you."

He recognised the voice as Adamastor's, and so he excused himself and went to his room, where he and the spirit could speak in peace.

He saw as Adamastor became visible, and the other had a tired expression on his face.

"What happened?" Brazil asked. "Is Annie alright?"

"Not really," Adamastor said. "Her sister, Hout Bay, was killed by Amodi. She saw the body."

Brazil's hands clenched into fists.

"And I'm guessing _he_ was there to comfort her?" he asked.

"He tried to," Adamastor said. "But at the moment she's inconsolable."

Brazil felt anger and sorrow intermingling in his chest. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to hold her and tell her that everything would be alright. But he couldn't even get close to her. He was trapped in Italy, and she was with a nation who had betrayed the rest of the world by joining Amodi.

"We _almost_ had a window of opportunity for your escape," Adamastor explained. "But it wasn't the right one."

"What do you mean?" Brazil asked.

Adamastor revealed the thread that bound the two of them together.

"Amodi has these as well," Adamastor explained. "All the nations that have joined Amodi have these. Portugal too, though his connection is unwilling. He will cooperate with whatever Amodi wishes from him, and in return none of his former colonies will be hurt."

Brazil swallowed a lump in his throat. Portugal would sacrifice everything, including his freedom, in order to keep them all safe. And it was obvious to them that Portugal didn't _want_ to be there.

What did they even _want_ with Portugal, anyway?

"When they conquer you, more bonds are formed," Adamastor explained. "These bonds are invisible, even to them. But it's one of the reasons why nations under their control die when they try to break free. It was partially because of the contracts that the African nations were forced to sign. Once they had enough nations to sign it, the rules of the contract started to apply to everyone else they conquered. But every rule has a loophole."

"And the loophole is what would provide the window of opportunity?" Brazil asked.

"That's right. When one of their members die, the bonds snap, and they need to mend themselves. It allows someone the chance to escape, whether it's one of them or someone they conquered. The problem is, we need to wait for someone with the same kind of bonds that conquered you to die. Someone bound by hatred."

Brazil's eyes hardened in determination.

"One of them has already died," Brazil said. "It's only a matter of time before the next one dies."

…

"I understand," the man said. "I will be there as soon as I can."

He hung up his phone, before looking around at the frozen wasteland around him. Part of him would have liked to have remained alone for the rest of eternity, while another wanted company. But even when nations had come to him, he had avoided them.

The only time he had gone was when he had seen two nations that were _truly_ struggling in the cold. He had gone to help them, and had managed to make friends.

Argentina and Chile.

Slowly, but surely, they had brought over more of their friends. And he felt touched, since most of the others couldn't tolerate the cold. Canada and Finland handled it the best, and Belarus to a degree, but most of the others came from places with a warm climate.

And he had learned all of the details from their pasts. Many of them had been harmed by other nations, to the point that they were no longer very stable. And he had felt sympathy for them, and had grown angry by all the things that others had done to them.

He had learned of their intentions to take control of the world, and he supported them wholeheartedly. And thus, he had become a part of them.

They had mostly refrained from taking his land, except for Argentina and Chile, who had some researchers there. Peru had also reserved the right to some of his land. He didn't mind too much, since he had a connection to his friends.

And now his friends needed his help. They were dealing with an enemy – a non-nation – that made things increasingly difficult for them. He had been asked if he could deal with him, and he had agreed.

After all, what was a Russian winter compared to the cold of Antarctica?

…

Andorra, Basque, Catalonia, Picardy and Madeira were all in Andorra's living room. They were waiting for other minor personifications, but they were disturbed. They had sent messages to many, but few had replied. But one or two of the Pierres had informed Picardy that the ones they had sent the message to were already dead by the time the birds got there.

Madeira especially had been distraught when she heard that Azores had been captured.

They were still waiting for Isle of Man, Cornwall and Gibraltar. They had all informed them that they were coming. They were just having trouble getting transportation.

And asides from those three, someone else that had said they were coming was…

They all jumped when someone knocked on the door. Andorra swallowed nervously before he went to answer it.

Standing on the other side was Tokyo, who they had been expecting, and with him was someone that had a resemblance to France, only _very_ sickly. Actually, Andorra thought that a corpse would look healthier than this young man.

"Konnichiwa, Andorra-san," Tokyo said, bowing respectfully. "I hope it's not a bother. I saw this young man, wandering around. He feels like one of us."

Andorra examined the stranger closely. His presence was weaker than a nation, but was the same as a region. Was he one of France's?

No. France wouldn't let anyone in his family turn out like that. Perhaps Picardy would know who this young man was.

The stranger certainly made no move to speak, so Andorra would assume that he wasn't capable of speech. He sighed.

"Come in," Andorra said.

Tokyo nodded, and he and the stranger filed in. The stranger didn't say a word and kept his head lowered the entire time.

Everyone else in the living room immediately focused on the new arrivals, particularly the silent stranger.

"Picardy, do you know him?" Andorra asked.

"No," Picardy said, examining the stranger. He seemed to have come to a similar conclusion as Andorra, for the next words he spoke were French. "Qui êtes-vous?"

The stranger seemed as though he had suddenly been shaken out of a trance, for his body literally shook, and he looked up at Picardy with an odd expression.

"Q-Que-b-bec," the man said, before he dissolved into a coughing fit.

Andorra kept his eyes on Basque and Catalonia, and he could see that they had _some_ idea who Quebec was.

Madeira had gone up to Quebec and was looking at him with concern.

"When was the last time you spoke?" Madeira asked gently.

Quebec stopped coughing, wheezing all the while. He shook his head, looking at her pleadingly.

"Don't you know?" she asked.

Once again, Quebec shook his head.

Madeira frowned, before looking him over. Her eyes widened when she saw how bony his fingers were, and when she looked further up she could see how bruised his wrists were. It didn't fail anyone's notice how he looked to be in pain at the slightest touch.

"When was the last time you ate?" Madeira asked.

Quebec flinched at the question, taking a shaky breath.

"Why don't you come with me?" she asked, looking towards Andorra for permission.

Andorra nodded his head, and Madeira led Quebec to the kitchen. Once they were gone, he rounded on Basque and Catalonia.

"You know who he is?" Andorra asked.

"I've heard of him," Basque said. "He's a Canadian province with a bit of a separatist atmosphere. It's the only French province of Canada."

"I think I've heard France mention him," Picardy said. "He said that Canada was worried about the Quebecois and that they wanted to break free from him."

"But… what _happened_ to him?" Catalonia asked.

"I don't know," Tokyo said. "But… now that I know who he is, is it wise to trust him? After all, he is a province from an Amodi nation."

Catalonia looked towards the kitchen and frowned.

"I say we keep an eye on him," she said. "If he shows signs of working for them, we get rid of him."

Tokyo nodded his head, and none of the others noticed his mouth twitching in a small smile.

…

China sighed in relief when he and Singapore arrived at his home. Singapore was admiring the scenery, and she seemed impressed by how isolated it was.

"Until we can think of a good plan, we need to keep ourselves hidden," China said.

"I can understand that," Singapore said. "It's a smart move on your part."

"I just hope that we're able to survive this war."

"Yes. Unlike with other wars, a loss is guaranteed certain death."

"Not always. The African nations have only been conquered, though it is more for the Continent Conquest. Keeping them alive is more beneficial to them. But _escape_ for them means certain death."

"What do you think they're doing with the ones they've captured?"

"I'm not sure," China sighed. "I just hope they remain unharmed."

"I guess we'll never know."

"Let's _hope_ we never know."

Singapore nodded her head, and China led her to the house. They immediately ran into Taiwan, whose eyes widened when she saw Singapore.

"Hi," Singapore greeted. "You doing okay here?"

Taiwan beamed.

"Yeah," Taiwan said. "We've all been working on improving our fighting prowess. And we've been teaching a Westerner martial arts. It's actually really funny."

Singapore frowned in confusion.

"Netherlands," China said. "Don't ask. I'll be in the kitchen."

When China left Singapore turned to Taiwan, who was giggling.

"China and Netherlands are love rivals," Taiwan explained. "Both of them like Portugal. It was France's idea to have Netherlands stay with us."

Singapore chuckled.

"Looks like France had a twisted sense of humour," she said.

"Yeah," Taiwan said, before growing sad. "France is dead."

"I know," Singapore said. "I managed to guess from the news report."

"It's just so unfair. Why do they have to kill everyone?"

"I think that a part of it is because they want to eliminate any threats."

"They also seem to have a grudge. North Korea has stated that he hates Japan and China, and wants to see them burn to the ground."

"They're taking it very slow, then."

"Yeah. And that's what makes them so scary."

…

Philippines huffed, looking at Malaysia. The other was extremely pale and breathing heavily, every now and then coughing some blood. Most of his population had died, and it was time to finish him off.

She was getting bored, anyway.

She cocked her gun, and Malaysia looked at her with a broken expression. She smirked when she saw his face.

"Paálam," she said, before pulling the trigger.

…

Laos, Tibet and Hong Kong all turned to the door when it was opened. They swallowed nervously when they saw Italy, who had a cold expression in his eyes. He turned to Laos, who was still resting on the bed.

"Had a nice nap?" he asked. "Any dreams you'd like to share?"

Laos's eyes widened. Italy _knew_ that he'd had a prophetic dream.

"W-what are you talking about?" Laos asked nervously.

Italy walked closer, and at the last minute grabbed Hong Kong, before holding a knife to his throat.

"Don't play stupid," Italy said. "You had a dream, didn't you?"

"Y-yes," Laos said.

"Care to share?"

Laos swallowed nervously.

"A spider web of red silk," Laos said. "One of the threads broke, followed by fire, and rivers of blood. There was also a shattered mirror and a blizzard."

"Any interpretations?" Italy asked, a cold smile on his face.

Laos shook his head.

"Let me give you a few," Italy said. "One of our members died. One connected with the red ribbon. His lover is _pissed_ , and will send the one responsible most likely to a fiery doom. And the rivers of blood imply that many will die. How's that?"

Laos swallowed nervously before averting his eyes.

"The blizzard could either refer to General Winter or Antarctica," Italy said. "But what of the mirror?"

"I-I don't know," Laos said.

"Hmm," Italy hummed in thought. "Tell me, is there something specific that triggers these dreams?"

"I-information."

"What do you need?"

"W-what's going on in the world. And… everyone involved."

Italy's face twisted into one of thought, before throwing Hong Kong towards Tibet, who was waiting for him.

"You are to inform us _immediately_ when you receive another such vision," Italy said. "Failure to do so…"

He glanced towards Tibet and Hong Kong, and the message became clear. Laos frantically nodded his head.

Italy smirked, before leaving the three of them alone. There was a collective sigh of relief.

"So, someone in their group has died," Tibet said.

"And now someone's going to suffer the consequence," Hong Kong said.

"Poor fool," Laos said.

…

America woke up after they had landed in Bahrain. Once again, Michoacán was the only one to stay with him.

"Are you okay?" Michoacán asked.

"Not really," America said. "It really hurts, you know?"

She nodded her head in understanding.

"We managed to get Qatar to join," she said. "And the others are going to get Bahrain now."

"Oh. Good," he said.

"America… Qatar says that he believes Israel to be a member of Amodi."

America frowned.

"I don't see _why_ , though," he said. "I mean… isn't Egypt a member? They don't have the best of relationships, even _before_ they're supposed to have started all of their planning."

"Remember, they were all acting," she pointed out. "But… _if_ he's a member, then he's a new member. Black didn't mention him as one of the nations from the beginning, right?"

America frowned thoughtfully.

"No, he didn't," he said. "And… when we captured North Korea, he managed to figure out the colours on the map. He said that there weren't enough yellow or red. But he didn't want to reveal the red points."

"Which means that they had other nations among their numbers," Michoacán said. "Spies. Or potential spies."

"Or nations that they didn't _want_ us to know are with them. Nations that we might have called for help, or…"

"Yeah. But we have no way to tell for sure with Israel. Unless…"

"Unless we go there ourselves," America finished, a spark in his eyes.

…

Madeira watched Quebec intently. She had given him a piece of toast and a glass of water, but he was basically nibbling and sipping. They weren't the actions of someone starving. But… they weren't the actions of someone _not_ starving. Or parched, for that matter. It was almost as though he was _afraid_ of getting something in his stomach.

Madeira looked up when Catalonia entered the kitchen, and the other female looked at Quebec intently.

"You don't mind answering a few questions, do you?" Catalonia asked.

Quebec looked over towards her but didn't answer. It was hard to read his emotions.

"Don't be shy with the food," Catalonia said. "Eat up."

He looked back at the piece of toast, and as she had encouraged, he took a proper bite.

"What happened to you?" Catalonia asked.

Quebec swallowed, with some difficulty, and placed his hand on the table. He started tapping a finger, and they realised that it was Morse code.

 _Canada kept me locked up. I wasn't supposed to be born, but he figured I could prove useful. Or, my people could. A nation with internal conflict is less suspicious than a nation with nothing wrong._

"True," Madeira said.

Quebec suddenly shuddered, and they saw him rushing to the sink. They watched with wide eyes as he vomited the little food he had. They especially panicked a little when they saw the blood accompanying the bile.

"H-how long have you gone without food?" Madeira asked.

Quebec shook his head, before he started tapping something.

 _Time became meaningless. But I haven't eaten once since I was his prisoner._

"I know you don't know how long you've been a prisoner," Catalonia said, "but, do you know _when_ you became a prisoner?"

Quebec looked thoughtful, before he started tapping again.

 _1963._

 **Quebec's been a prisoner since the October Crisis, which is around the time the personification was born (at least that's how I decide to interpret it). Poor guy's spent his whole life in captivity.**

 **And I realised that I mistakenly referred to Catalonia as Cambodia in a previous chapter. It's been corrected, and eventually the real Cambodia will show up.**

 **And yes, the one character that would be stronger against General Winter than even Russia is Antarctica, who's been hinted at a few chapters ago.**

 **Tokyo is basically using Quebec as a means to hide his own status as a member of Amodi. Quebec can't even speak to defend himself, and Morse code is the** _ **least**_ **painful way for him to communicate, but still painful. And even a single bite of bread is too much of a shock for his stomach, which hasn't seen food in decades, except for on the plane which he upchucked as well.**

 **I've also been mulling over this piece of trivia the entire weekend: South Africa has the Uniondale Ghost, which is our version of Resurrection Mary. The ghost is believed to be that of Marie Charlotte Roux, with Marie being the French and Afrikaans equivalents of Mary (though pronunciation differs). If you're interested, there's a movie called** _ **Die Spook van Uniondale**_ **, and you can see the trailer on YouTube.**


	52. Chapter 51

**Thanks to Mastyska, Star Symphonic, Terra, Eternal Nexus Warrior, TooShyToReview, ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict and teabrows for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 51**

Catalonia and Madeira stared at Quebec in horror. He finally stopped retching and was breathing heavily.

"You haven't eaten since 1963?" Madeira whispered.

Quebec shook his head.

"Why keep you alive for so long?" Catalonia asked. "How could he be so cruel?"

Quebec started tapping again.

 _He thought that my desire for freedom would manifest in my people. He was right. But since he took control, I couldn't feel them at all anymore. I've outlived my usefulness. Canada came in to show Egypt what I look like. I think he intends to do the same thing he did to me to someone else._

"Do you know who?" Madeira asked.

Quebec shook his head.

"One more question," Catalonia said. "How'd you escape?"

 _My wrists are really thin now. I could get through the cuffs. But I haven't wanted to do it in a long time. When Canada came, it awoke the old instinct. I managed to sneak on a plane. I wanted to get France, but I got lost._

Catalonia and Madeira shared a look.

"Flights between Amodi nations and non-Amodi nations are out," Catalonia said. "But… I suppose it's possible that they've opened the Canadian-French air routes."

"Did you find Tokyo while lost?" Madeira asked.

Quebec nodded his head.

"That's probably a good thing," Catalonia said. "Because France is dead."

Quebec's eyes widened and his legs buckled underneath him, sending him to the ground. Madeira and Catalonia were at his side in an instant.

"You're really weak," Madeira observed, her arms easily wrapping around the thin frame. "And something tells me that you won't be able to eat anything until we can get your stomach strong again."

Catalonia nodded her head before she stood.

"I'll see if I can get Andorra to get us a few IVs," she said. "At least until he has enough nutrients in his system to build up some strength."

"And in the meantime I'll take him to a bed," Madeira said. "He needs to sleep to recuperate."

Catalonia stepped back and Madeira proceeded to lift Quebec. She was surprised by how light he was.

"I don't think he has even a single muscle to produce mass," Madeira said.

"We're going to have to fix that," Catalonia said.

…

Bahrain was fidgeting nervously, looking towards America and Michoacán. He could already see that there was a disaster approaching. When was the last time Western and Middle Eastern nations could really get along?

Especially America.

"So, what are we going to do?" Yemen asked.

"Well, we need to check Israel with our own eyes," America said. "If we see evidence that he's with Amodi, we'll get out of there as soon as possible."

"We'll also pick up Kuwait along the way," Michoacán added.

"And Gaza, Jordan and Palestine," Oman said. "We can't simply leave them alone there if we see that Israel _is_ in fact with Amodi."

"H-how w-would w-we know?" Qatar asked.

"We'll check our cell phones," Michoacán said. "There's no way that Amodi would have shut down their own forms of communication. And nations can get service in other nations' lands."

"Yeah," America said. "If he's with them, he'll have a cell phone signal. We can also check with the way his people behave. If they're the enemy… They'll react to our presence."

"America and I certainly stand out in this part of the world."

"So we'll be able to tell if the two of you are attacked?" Bahrain asked. "And what about the rest of us?"

"Yemen and Oman will stay here," Michoacán said. "They're still injured from Egypt's attack."

"How is it that they still haven't healed?" Bahrain asked.

"The bullets that Egypt used were nuclear," America said.

"What?" Bahrain and Qatar asked simultaneously.

"They learned that nuclear power will hurt a nation," Oman said, looking at America.

"No kidding," America said. "Sorry dudes. I'm a little weak at the moment. But I'll help you as much as I can. Do you know why?"

"Because you're the hero?" Yemen said, rolling his eyes.

"No," America said. "Because we're all working together. All that matters right now is that we get rid of Amodi. We can't let them keep on hurting everyone. England, France, UAE… even Iraq and Iran. They didn't deserve what they got."

"You forgot Saudi Arabia," Michoacán muttered, before speaking louder. "But he's right. Amodi is the biggest threat to the nations that we've ever seen. They've already killed a bunch of nations, and others like me. We can't let them carry on."

"What would happen to our people if we're not here to save them?" Bahrain muttered.

"I c-can't b-believe I'm s-saying it," Qatar said, "b-but… A-America's r-right."

"And we can forgive your stuttering this time," Yemen sighed. "You know, America, if you would have been like this more often, we wouldn't have that much of a problem with you."

"Huh?" America asked.

"It's your hero complex we find the most annoying," Oman clarified. "And the fact that you won't listen to anyone, not even your allies."

"You act as though you're the only one that can 'save' the world," Yemen added. "Even if the ones you're 'saving' don't want it. And you think that _all_ of your actions are justified and right."

"Mexico complained about you a lot," Michoacán said. "According to her, you were arrogant with no consideration to others' feelings, and she got the feeling that you looked down on others."

America looked around at the others.

"So… that's how you guys feel about me?" America asked.

"Pretty much," Bahrain said. "But… if you'd just acknowledge that we're all in this together, things could be better."

"We're not your cannon fodder or distractions," Yemen said. "And yes. I've heard some of your allies during World War Two complaining about it."

America sighed, before nodding his head.

"Sorry about that," America said. "I wonder… Do you think that that's what made Mexico and Canada join Amodi's side?"

"Probably," Yemen, Oman and Bahrain said simultaneously.

"Okay then. I'll try my hardest to make sure that I don't do that anymore."

"Great," Yemen said. "Now… just one more request?"

America looked at Yemen expectantly.

"Do you think you might learn a little volume control?" Yemen asked. "No offence. It's alright during the world meetings… We all want to be heard, after all."

"If his ideas made sense," Oman muttered.

"But… when standing next to you and you're speaking so loud… You kind of hurt our ears from time to time," Yemen continued.

"Really?" America asked, and Qatar flinched. "Sorry."

"We're not trying to be rude or insult you," Bahrain said.

"No dudes, it's fine," America said, his voice a little quieter. "I'll try to be a little quieter."

"Thank you," Qatar said, smiling.

…

Russia shuddered.

He had the strangest feeling that the impossible had just happened. It almost felt as though hell was starting to freeze over. But it couldn't really be something so drastic, could it?

No matter. He would need to focus on more important matters. Such as getting the last former Soviet nations to safety.

He needed to get in contact with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. All of the 'stan' nations. He briefly entertained the idea of getting Afghanistan as well, before shaking his head. That would just be another disaster, and she might not be very happy to see him.

He didn't have any birds that he could send with a message. He had always been pretty isolated. The only way he could get in contact with someone was if they sent a message to him first, or if he used General Winter.

Would the General be willing to act as a messenger to him? After all, he did it with America.

Well, he wouldn't know unless he asked.

…

Madeira had placed Quebec in a bed. She supposed that one of the perks of being a nation was that they could have large houses. Islands like her didn't get that privilege.

She had just turned to leave when she suddenly felt something around her wrist. She looked down to see that Quebec had grabbed her with his bony hand.

"S-stay," he whispered.

Madeira could see a spark of relief in the otherwise blank eyes, and knew that he was glad that he didn't start coughing again just from speaking that one word. But she could also see that he didn't want to be alone.

How long _had_ he been alone, with no one but his tormentor to keep him company?

Madeira was struck by another thought. How old had he been when he was imprisoned – actually, physically and mentally? Right now, it was impossible to tell what age he was. He looked to be in his twenties, but that could just be because of his skeletal appearance.

"Ok," Madeira said, sitting on the end of the bed.

He looked so small, lying there.

Quebec sighed in relief, before he closed his eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Madeira asked. "H-how old are you? Physically, at least."

Quebec's eyebrows furrowed, before he opened his eyes.

"S-six-teen," he whispered.

Her eyes widened. He was far too young. And he had been even younger when he was first imprisoned.

How could a nation be so cruel towards his own province?

Her hatred for Amodi increased, and she brushed Quebec's hair away from his face. He flinched slightly at the contact before leaning into her touch.

Seeing him, knowing what he had gone through… Madeira felt extremely protective over him. She smiled when she saw his breathing change somewhat, informing her that he was now asleep.

Perhaps she could convince Catalonia to help her give him a bath later. If he hadn't eaten in so long, then she could only imagine how long he had gone without a bath. They needed to do all they could to help him heal.

Plus, he _really_ needed a bath.

…

Italy was looking at his computer screen, tapping his fingers thoughtfully. The Bonds were still recovering from Molossia's death, and they needn't make any mistakes that could damage the Bonds even more.

It would be best if he could have everyone there. They would probably need another meeting, anyway.

Romano and India were taking care of prisoners, so only one of them could come. The same for Finland and Romania.

Speaking of those two, when was the last time they had an assignment?

Poland was hunting down Mongolia, and would return as soon as that was finished. Switzerland and South were tracking down Pakistan, but apparently they were having some difficulties finding him. They could probably be pulled back.

The South Americans wouldn't be very happy if their rampage was interrupted, but Italy had to remind them that they followed his orders, along with Poland's. The Africans, on the other hand, wouldn't have a problem with being called to Vatican.

Egypt was recuperating with Canada, and as long as he wasn't put on active duty again he would have no problem with being called back to base. Philippines had just finished with Malaysia, so now would be a good time to call her back, before she moved on to a new target.

He had already suggested to Mexico that she and Confederacy should go to Hawaii for a vacation. It would at least keep them safe from Liechtenstein's rampage. But it wouldn't be very good if he told them to come to their base after he had already given them permission to relax on one of America's former islands.

Israel, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to be called back. It would reveal too much to South Africa, and they needed her to be under their influence, and as willing as possible.

It was _probably_ a bad idea to order an attack on Hout Bay, but there was no going back now.

Kugelmugel and Ladonia had arrived when Molossia had died, and they were grieving with the rest of the micronations. And Tokyo had started his undercover assignment, so they wouldn't be able to pull him back either.

With his mind made up, Italy started dialling Philippines's number while commencing his search for San Marino.

…

Philippines sighed, phone pressed against her ear.

"I understand," she said. "I'll come as soon as possible."

She hung up the phone before turning to Malaysia's corpse.

"Looks like I'm going to have to wait before I move on to the next nation," she said, before she giggled. "But it was fun. Too bad we can't do this again. Well, _I_ can. _You_ , on the other hand…"

Philippines shook her head, laughter bubbling until it completely escaped.

"This feels _so_ good."

…

Thailand had gone outside. It was a tranquil place, untouched by humans for centuries. Though he wondered if China would let them make this place a little homier.

He looked up when he heard a screech, and his eyes widened when he saw an eagle. The eagle flew down to him, and for the first time he noticed that there was a letter around the bird's leg.

Swallowing nervously, Thailand carefully took the letter, expecting for the bird to bite him. When that didn't happen he sighed in relief, before looking at the letter.

 _Yo China, it's America!_

Thailand sighed. Suddenly, the eagle made sense.

He wondered if he should be reading this, before shrugging, turning his attention to the paper in his hands yet again.

 _We figured that if we want to get in touch we should do it the old-fashioned way. You probably know all about it._

Thailand rolled his eyes. It was probably a good thing that China wasn't the one reading this. The same with Vietnam.

 _We only have two birds at the moment, and Liberty needed to take some time to recover after flying to Russia._

"So, your name is Liberty?" Thailand asked, looking at the eagle.

The bird gave a huff, and Thailand figured that he might as well consider that a 'yes'.

 _If you have any news from your side, let us know immediately. We're getting some new friends, but… We didn't get to save United Arab Emirates (why'd the guy need such a long name, anyway?). We managed to hurt Egypt. Dude… They don't die when you shoot them in the head. Not even for a second._

Thailand swallowed nervously. That was probably important to tell China.

 _Anyway, if you have anything important to say, just send it with Liberty or any other bird you can use. America, out._

Thailand smiled, before turning to the bird.

"Could you wait a while?" Thailand asked. "I'll get this message to China. Or maybe Japan would be better."

The bird closed its eyes, and Thailand stood. As he walked away, his thoughts trailed to his pet, Toto. He hoped the elephant was alright.

…

"I think he's bored," Hungary remarked, looking at Syria.

"I think he's nervous," Turkey said. "When was the last time he's been in one place for so long?"

"You _might_ have a point."

The two of them were in the dining room with teacups in front of them, while Syria was in the living room. There was an archway, which allowed them to watch Syria as he continued to sharpen his blades. It had become clear to them that he was mostly doing it out of a combination of boredom and anxiety.

Turkey suddenly chuckled wryly, and Hungary turned to him.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"I was just thinking about when you were still a little kid," Turkey said. "You were certainly wild. And stubborn. You still have the stubborn streak, but you've certainly mellowed out."

Hungary smirked.

"I can say the same for you, old man," she said. "What happened to the great Ottoman Empire that wanted to conquer the whole world?"

"Just Europe," he said. "And who're you calling 'old'?"

She chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee.

Cyprus entered the room. He looked disturbed for a moment before plopping down at the table next to Turkey.

"I see you two are getting along," Cyprus said.

"Where's Greece?" Hungary asked.

"He's sleeping."

"Can't blame him," Turkey said. "After America injured Egypt, we have nothing to do. We could wait for him to recover, but…"

They were startled by a slam, and they turned their attentions to Syria, who looked annoyed.

"Could we do something _else_?" Syria asked. "I'm tired of waiting. It makes me feel helpless. Vulnerable. And stupid."

"What would you suggest we do then?" Turkey asked.

"Take the fight to Egypt."

"Sounds like a plan," Cyprus said. "Except they don't care if their lands are attacked. So, unless Egypt is actually _there_ …"

"He's recovering, right?" Syria asked. "Chances are, he would have gone to his home."

"Or he could have returned to their base of operations," Hungary pointed out. "Or he could be with his boyfriend."

"His _what_?"

"Yeah," Cyprus said, looking thoughtful. "We might have forgotten about Canada from time to time, but he's stronger than Egypt. He'll probably be there for protection."

Syria was silent for a moment, and it almost looked as though his brain had stopped.

"So," Syria said at last, "let me get this straight. Egypt is in a relationship with America's brother?"

…

Catalonia sighed as she and Andorra returned to Andorra's house. The nation had managed to get some IVs at a local hospital, though it had taken a _lot_ of convincing.

"Any idea which room Madeira put Quebec in?" Catalonia asked as soon as they entered the house.

"Not a clue," Basque said.

"I think it's upstairs," Picardy offered.

"Thanks," Catalonia said, taking the bag and heading upstairs.

She found the room with little difficulty, and sighed in relief when she saw that Madeira was still there, keeping watch over Quebec.

Madeira looked at the other female with sorrowful eyes.

"He's sixteen," Madeira said.

Catalonia's eyes widened as she came to an abrupt halt, and she turned her attention to Quebec. She had figured him to be older, but when he was asleep like that she could see that the tension had left, making him look younger. Though, he still looked older than he was.

"Bastards," Catalonia muttered. "If they would do this to their own province, what would they do to _us_?"

Madeira winced.

"Azores…" she muttered.

 **If you guys have any requests for nations, I'm all ears. I know that there are a** _ **lot**_ **of nations that I still need to reveal the fate of, and since some of them aren't on my radar I might miss them.**


	53. Chapter 52

**Thanks to shoujochan, yanrulim, Terra, Lovesbugsalot, Amy, Elizaveta Hedervary – Hungary, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 52**

Seychelles sighed, staring outside. The weather was beautiful, but she didn't have the heart to leave her house. It had been that way ever since the African nations had been conquered by Amodi.

She was often overlooked where the continent was concerned, but the _one_ time it could have saved her she was acknowledged. And forced to sign that stupid contract.

"Mon amie, staring at the outside world won't help."

Mauritius had joined her some time ago, and she knew that the other island didn't want to be alone. Neither did she, in fact. And when communication was cut off he stayed.

"I know you're right," Seychelles sighed. "I just wish there's something we can do."

"We can't," Mauritius said. "If we try to run away, we'll die. Like Madagascar."

Seychelles averted her eyes. Mauritius looked towards her with concern.

"Come here," he said gently.

She obeyed, and she allowed herself to be pulled down on the couch next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and she leaned into the contact.

"It'll be okay," he said. "Wars don't last forever. Empires come and go. Before you know it, we'll be free again."

"But how long would it take?" she asked. "A week? A month? A _century_?"

He sighed, rubbing her arm.

"I don't know," he admitted.

…

Quebec awoke, feeling something strange from his arm. He turned to see a needle, and his eyes widened in fear. He quickly reached out to take the needle, before a gentle hand grabbed his wrist.

"Relax," Madeira said. "It's just an IV. It's getting the necessary nutrients into your bloodstream. Then when your body is stronger we'll start with proper food."

Quebec stared at her for a moment before he went limp. He trusted her. He knew that she wouldn't do anything to hurt him. She was trying to help.

He turned to the other female, who was looking at him intently. She sighed.

"Let's hope you can handle it," she said. "And once the bag is empty, you're getting a bath."

He cocked his head to the side, completely confused. He vaguely understood the concept of a bath, but had never actually experienced one. A part of him was curious about it.

Anything to help him heal.

…

"P-please! Don't! I'll do anything! I can help!"

Peru sighed, looking down at Puerto Rico, a lazy smile on his face. The island nation wasn't the first to have begged for his life like that, or offered to be helpful. Cuba certainly came to mind, and Peru had killed him very fast because he knew that Canada hated him.

For Cuba, Canada's mask of invisibility and resemblance to America had worked a little _too_ well.

The only reason why Peru didn't kill the Caribbean immediately was because most of his bloodlust had been satisfied by now. So now, he was willing to indulge the Puerto Rican for his own amusement.

"And in which way can you 'help'?" Peru asked.

Puerto Rico swallowed nervously.

"A lot of my people live in America," Puerto Rico said. "America also wouldn't suspect me if I came for a 'visit'. I could help you get to him."

Peru let out a snort of amusement.

"It's a shame America isn't in his country," Peru said. "He's currently flying around the Middle East."

"…Is he an… Oh, wait, yes he is," Puerto Rico said.

Peru chuckled slightly.

"Now, why would you want to kill America anyway?" Peru asked casually.

"Are you _kidding_ me?!" Puerto Rico exclaimed. "America treated me like I was his property. I even had to play maid once, and he even forced me to wear the dress! And I had to play nice because of my size!"

Peru chuckled again. He saw the fires of hatred in Puerto Rico's eyes. He just _might_ consider letting him live a little longer.

"It's always the same," Puerto Rico muttered, looking down and expression taking on a sorrowful tone. "Spain treated me like that as well. Just like how he treated you."

Peru gritted his teeth. That was a low blow. He didn't want to think of his past, especially with Spain. But… the island had a point.

Before Peru could make a decision, though, he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Puerto Rico looked surprised, but Peru ignored him as he dug the device out of his pocket.

"What is it?" Peru demanded as way of greeting. "I'm in the middle of something."

"Veneziano wants you to return to base as soon as possible," San Marino said on the other end. "It's been a long time since we've had a meeting. Still hungry?"

"I'm mostly satisfied for now," Peru said.

"I'm sure Ethiopia will be glad to hear that."

Peru blushed, before he smiled. Yes. He would definitely see his lover soon. He wondered how he's been. Peru had been busy, but after every kill he would leave a voicemail to let the African know that he was thinking about him.

He then remembered Puerto Rico and became serious again.

"Hey San, there's someone that thinks he can be useful to us," Peru said. "What do you think?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," San Marino said. "I'm just the messenger, after all. But… Why don't you bring him along? If there's even the _slightest_ possibility that he might be useful…"

"I understand," Peru said, before he hung up the phone.

Puerto Rico remained silent, keeping his eyes on the Peruvian. He was aware of the fact that his fate had been discussed in that phone call.

"I'm surprised," Peru said. "I half expected you to run. But if you tried, I would have known that you weren't serious. That you have no intention of joining us and you were just looking for anything that would save your ass."

Puerto Rico swallowed nervously.

"It was a little impromptu," Peru said, "but you've passed the test with flying colours. Of course, you'll have to come with me. It's up to the boss to decide your usefulness."

Puerto Rico nodded his head, understanding that his life was being spared. For now…

…

Gibraltar sighed, before she knocked on the door. She waited for a moment, rubbing her arm nervously, and smiled in relief when Andorra opened the door.

"You made it," Andorra said. "Please, come in."

She nodded her head, before entering. She followed Andorra to the living room, and was pleased to see Basque, Tokyo and Picardy.

"Are we the only ones here?" she asked.

"Madeira and Catalonia are upstairs with Quebec," Basque said.

As though on cue, they heard a cry of pain from upstairs, which made Gibraltar jump. Picardy sighed, before patting the open space next to him.

"It's a long story," he said. "So make yourself comfortable and I'll explain."

…

When Quebec had first entered the water he had no problems. The water was a warm, though pleasant, temperature. It was a stark contrast with the cold – literally and figuratively – he had been forced to endure ever since he was born.

He had no problem being naked in front of the two young women – something which earned a comment from Catalonia that he was definitely French – but the women seemed a little nervous about seeing his nakedness. They tried their best to avoid looking at anything below the belt. Luckily, his thin upper body provided decent distraction.

But then they started pouring water over his head.

Quebec panicked and tried to move away, but Catalonia easily caught him. He whimpered when Madeira poured more water on his head, and he started trembling.

"Is it too cold?" Catalonia asked.

Quebec stared at her incredulously, and it took her a few moments to understand what his problem was. She then motioned for Madeira to stop.

"It's okay," Catalonia said. "We just want to wash your hair first. We need to get it wet before we can start with the shampoo."

Quebec stared at her for a moment before nodding his head. He closed his eyes when Madeira resumed her actions.

He had to admit that it was soothing when the two worked the shampoo onto his scalp before moving to his hair. As someone that had never had a gentle touch before this was euphoric, and he found himself being lulled to sleep. Eventually Madeira sighed, and he turned to look at her.

"We're going to need more shampoo," she said, shaking the empty bottle.

"I'll see if Andorra has more," Catalonia said, standing up. "Lather like your life depends on it."

Madeira nodded, and she continued to massage the shampoo into his scalp and long hair. He sighed in pure bliss as he felt her fingers, before squirming. His head was starting to itch, and he didn't hesitate to try to scratch it.

Madeira giggled and he turned a questioning gaze to her.

"I think I might have increased the blood circulation," she said. "It has a tendency to make you itch. Either that, or you're just not used to being cleaned, and your body's reacting in shock. Well, at least we know that it's accomplishing _something_."

He looked towards her and gave a small smile of relief. Catalonia chose that moment to return and arched an eyebrow.

"Is something going on?" she asked.

"Well, at least we know that the blood in his head is flowing," Madeira said.

"Circulation?"

"Sim."

Catalonia nodded, before lifting the bottle she had gotten.

"He was surprised that we're doing this," Catalonia explained. "But all the boys agree with what we're doing."

"And none of them are willing to help out?"

"Nope."

"Typical."

"They said that it'd be weird for them."

"Oh, and it's not for us?"

Quebec listened to the two as they continued to wash his hair. He was surprised when something white drifted down in front of his face, and Madeira sighed in relief.

"Finally starting to foam, I see," she said.

This lasted for about a minute or two, and then finally Madeira sighed.

"I think this would be easier if you lie back," Madeira said.

Quebec allowed himself to be pushed backwards by the two girls, and he could feel as the water started to cover his head. He tensed slightly expecting them to dunk his head underwater completely, but Madeira placed her hand on the back of his neck, preventing him from going further.

"It's easier to let the water wash it away," she said, before grabbing the shower attachment. "But still, you might want to close your eyes."

Quebec did as told, and soon he could feel the water washing the shampoo away. One of the girls massaged his scalp, allowing the water to better rinse off. Finally the flow of water stopped and the girls helped him sit up again.

"There now," Madeira said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Quebec gave a small smile as Catalonia ran her fingers through his hair.

"It's a lot better now," she said. "But we wouldn't be able to see its real colour until the hair has been dried."

He nodded his head.

"And now, we get to the rest of the body," Madeira said awkwardly.

That was when things started getting _really_ bad for Quebec.

The two of them had each grabbed a washcloth and had covered them in liberal amounts of soap. And it was the scrubbing that they did that made Quebec start to panic again. He cried out in pain before trying to lurch away as best he could but was stopped by a dizzy spell. And Catalonia grabbing his shoulder.

"Easy," she said. "There's decades worth of grime. We need to get you clean, and this is the only way how."

He swallowed nervously before he nodded, allowing the two to continue. However…

"Oh shit," Madeira whispered.

Quebec turned his head to see what's going on, and he felt his stomach drop when he saw that he had started bleeding.

"Dammit," Catalonia said. "His skin is so thin…"

"We're sorry," Madeira said.

Quebec nodded his head, and the two started to scrub a little gentler, but he had managed to figure out that it was taking longer that way than when they had been a little rougher. But even so, he couldn't stop the occasional cry of pain, especially if they moved to a new area. His wrists in particular were very sensitive, and whenever they would brush against his ribs he would hiss in pain.

After what felt like an eternity, it was over, and Quebec panted in relief. Madeira helped him to stand while Catalonia went to get a towel.

"It'll get better," Madeira said. "I promise."

Quebec could only whimper.

"I got some of my brother's clothes," Catalonia said. "But… I get the feeling that they won't fit you."

"Until he puts on some weight, I think we should try to use oversized shirts," Madeira said. "And maybe pants with a strong elastic."

The reason for that became clear soon, as the pants and underwear immediately fell, and the two girls sighed.

"We're going to need to do some shopping," Catalonia sighed.

Catalonia ran out again and returned with a pair of boxers, which fit better.

"Is this Basque's?" Madeira asked.

"Actually, it's mine," Catalonia said, a blush on her cheeks. "I… I like sleeping in them, that's all."

Madeira giggled as the two helped Quebec put them on. Quebec had decided to zone out, feeling a little dizzy after the bath. Madeira noticed this and smiled sympathetically.

"Let's get you back to bed," she said.

The two guided him to the door, and when they opened it they were surprised to see Tokyo waiting outside. Tokyo smiled calmly, but Quebec had tensed.

"It's nice to see you are feeling better, Quebec-san," Tokyo said. "Do you girls need any help?"

"Oh sure, _now_ one of you offers," Catalonia said sarcastically. "Where were you during the actual bath?"

Tokyo remained silent, but his eyes drifted lower, and Quebec felt afraid.

"If you don't mind me asking…" Tokyo started.

"Don't," Catalonia said. "You _don't_ want to know."

Quebec's legs buckled, and Catalonia cried out in shock as she caught him.

"Easy," she said lowly. "Come on, I'll carry you."

Catalonia lifted him into her arms, and she shot a look towards Madeira.

"You're right," she said. "He's too light. This can't be healthy."

As the two girls walked away, Quebec couldn't help but look back at Tokyo, who had gained a dark look in his eyes. Tokyo was a subtle reminder that he hadn't escaped Canada at all.

…

Canada and Egypt were on a plane, on their way to Italy. They were curious to know what Italy wanted. Canada was also curious to know if Tokyo was keeping Quebec on a short leash. And whether or not they heard any news from Michoacán.

And they would also need to know which of the regions, provinces and other minor personifications were there and if there were any more coming, so that they could kill them all in one fell swoop.

They would bide their time. And make sure that everyone else was aware that Michoacán was _their_ target. Mexico had already given her permission, after all.

…

Slovenia massaged his temples, trying _hard_ to stave off the growing headache. It was becoming more and more difficult.

They were hiding away from Amodi. Not much had changed. Yugoslavia had reunited again, though he was the only one that thought of it as such, and he didn't dare voice it out loud in fear of earning the ire of the others, who were already high-strung due to the lack of communications and the fact that they had been around the same people for too long, in their opinions.

Slovenia _tried_ to placate them all by letting them watch as many DVDs as possible, in as many of their native languages as possible, but things didn't always go the way they wanted. It had also become a tradition now that one of them would be outside, apparently keeping guard but secretly enjoying the peace and quiet. And whenever someone had to go shopping, the task was volunteered for with gusto.

The point was that they were all suffering from cabin fever.

They wished they knew what was happening, and that either Russia or Turkey would come and recruit them. They didn't really want a war, but it was unavoidable, _and_ it was better than doing nothing.

"You bastard!"

"Stupid bitch!"

Slovenia slumped his head against the table. That was the fifth fight that had broken out in the last hour. Something _needed_ to be done.

…

Catalonia and Madeira had returned Quebec to his bed, after changing the sheets. He had asked the both of them to stay, and they were currently curled up on either side of him as he slept.

Catalonia would have slapped him if he was anyone else, but she knew that it wasn't an act of perversion. The two of them were the only ones so far that had reached out to him, and he obviously felt safer around the two.

Both Madeira and Catalonia could feel their maternal instincts rearing their heads, and they both knew that they would protect Quebec, no matter what. Even if it was against the others.

Though Catalonia still had her suspicions about him, she couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that no one would _willingly_ go through all of the suffering that he had. And his body spoke no lies.

…

Kazakhstan groaned, clutching her heart. This was horrible. And it wasn't the first time.

It had been a mosque. A self-made bomb. Everyone was aware of it. They were given the option to leave. They stayed.

It was a mass suicide unlike any she had ever seen before.

Similar things had happened all over her country, all because of the fear the war brought. The fear that at any moment they could die, and they wanted to end their lives on their own terms.

Kazakhstan knew that fear as well.

She suddenly felt a cold breeze behind her and she turned around. Her eyes widened at the sight of the man.

"You must come with me," the man said. "It is for your own protection."

 **A lot of this chapter focused on Quebec. His recovery is a very important plot point. You'll see in time.**

 **It was actually mentioned in Chapter 15 that Peru and Ethiopia were together, but their relationship hadn't been shown. Libya and Eritrea were also mentioned to be in a relationship in that chapter.**


	54. Chapter 53

**Thanks to Terra, shoujochan, ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict, Star Symphonic and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 53**

Isle of Man, along with Cornwall and the Channel Islands, were making their way towards Andorra's house, looking suspiciously around them, almost as though they were expecting the members of Amodi to attack them at any time. Which might actually happen.

The Channel Islands – Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou and Brecqhuo – had gone to Isle of Man's home around the same time that they had received the message from Picardy. They had taken a while to decide what they were going to do, with Isle of Man sending a message ahead to say that she and Cornwall would be coming.

The Channel Islands had to be convinced that doing it would be in their best interest, and now they were heading towards what they hoped was the best option if they wanted to survive the war. They had wanted to stay out of it completely, but a good point had been made: Amodi didn't care about neutrality, and it was only a matter of time before they would come to kill them. So in the end, they chose the option that would lead them to their best chance at survival.

Isle of Man sighed, before she knocked on the door. There was a shuffle on the other side before the door was opened, and Andorra sagged in relief.

"Glad you made it," Andorra said. "Please, come in."

Isle of Man smiled pleasantly before entering the house, the others following her lead. Andorra sighed.

"It looks like I'm running out of rooms," Andorra said, before he closed the door behind him.

Andorra led the way to the living room, where several others were. Picardy was crouched next to the coffee table, sheets of paper and small white birds with him.

"What's up?" Cornwall asked, walking towards Picardy.

"I'm preparing to send more invitations to others," Picardy said. "We also need to hear from Michoacán."

"Since she's travelling with America, she knows more about what's going on from the nations' viewpoint," Basque said.

Jersey looked around.

"Are we the only ones here?" he asked.

"Madeira and Catalonia are upstairs with Quebec, and Gibraltar's curious about him," Basque said.

The new arrivals looked at Basque with looks of confusion.

"Who?" Cornwall asked.

…

Gibraltar was standing at the doorway, looking at the three on the bed. Catalonia and Madeira had fallen asleep on either side of the skeletal figure.

Gibraltar wanted to know more about Quebec, but the others didn't have a lot of information. So she was hoping that the other two females might be able to help out with that.

Though clearly, that wasn't going to happen. Not now, at least. She would let them sleep, and she would have her questions answered at a later time.

…

Finland had gone to the meeting, and Romania had stayed behind. Even though it was Finland's house, Romania wanted to be around his little brother.

Even if his brother didn't want his company.

Romania was getting a little restless. He hadn't really had any fun since he had tortured Côte d'Ivoire. He wanted to hear those delicious screams again. After all, causing bloodshed without being stopped was the main reason why he had joined Amodi in the first place.

Though he had tamed slightly in recent years, that didn't change the fact that he wanted to kill someone again. And with there being three possible victims in the house, the temptation was eating away at him.

But he would never go after his brother. Little Moldova was safe.

The _rest_ , on the other hand…

Romania shook his head. Thinking about it wouldn't help him now. What he needed to focus on was keeping the prisoners compliant and out of trouble. And maybe patching things up with his brother.

…

Just like Romania had stayed behind with their prisoners, India had stayed behind as well, though he would only learn of it later. He was giving Romano the opportunity to see his brothers again.

He had noticed that there was something… _off_ about Brazil. For one thing, he was no longer wallowing in self-pity, and he certainly didn't _look_ as though he was suffering from a broken heart. Which meant that either his feelings for White were superficial, or he knew something that India didn't.

If that was true, then India was determined to find out what it was.

…

Bahrain, Yemen and Oman were walking the streets of Kuwait City, looking for the nation that the city had gained its name from. They were keeping a close eye on their surroundings. They hadn't forgotten that it was war, and they didn't want any nasty surprises.

They noticed that the people seemed to be acting… odd, and that worried the three nations. They picked up their pace, on the lookout for anything fishy.

They were relieved when they finally reached Kuwait's house, and they quickly made their way to the front door. Yemen knocked, and they waited for a while for someone to open.

When the door finally opened, their eyes widened.

"Kuwait?" Bahrain whispered.

Kuwait looked as though he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were bloodshot with bags under them. He also looked pretty pale, and he kept swaying on the spot, as though he would fall over at any time.

"I knew you weren't them," Kuwait said, his speech slurred. "They wouldn't have knocked."

"What happened?" Oman asked.

Kuwait sighed, slumping against the doorframe.

"When the war first broke out, I was sick," Kuwait said. "And when I heard what they do… I grew a little paranoid. I expected them to come at me in my sleep, so…"

"Please don't tell me that you've been keeping yourself awake," Yemen groaned.

Kuwait gave a small smile, and the other three groaned.

"Come with us," Bahrain said. "You're going to need it."

Kuwait swayed a little before he nodded, and Bahrain grabbed him before he could collapse.

"Anything you want to bring along?" Bahrain asked.

Kuwait nodded.

"Clothes," he said.

Bahrain nodded, before guiding the other inside. Oman and Yemen followed after them. Kuwait led the way to his bedroom, and Bahrain grabbed a suitcase and started packing.

"You two could help, you know," Bahrain said.

"That's unfortunately not possible for me," Yemen said, gesturing to his injured arm.

"I'll help pack," Oman said. "Just don't expect me to help support him later."

"What's _your_ excuse?" Bahrain asked.

"Egypt shot him in his side with a nuclear bullet," Yemen said. "The same as my arm."

Yemen watched as they packed, and his eyes shifted to Kuwait. The latter was sitting on his bed, and it was clear that he wanted nothing more than to lie back and rest, before he had a sneezing fit. Remembering what the other said about being sick, Yemen sighed when he realised that Kuwait didn't give himself a chance to heal.

Well, at least he would have a chance once back on the plane.

…

Kazakhstan's eyes widened when she found herself in what looked like a military base. The strange man walked ahead, and she rushed to keep up. She wondered where they were, and how they had gotten there.

Her jaw dropped when she saw the large computer, and she didn't even pay attention to the man sitting in front of it.

"I brought Kazakhstan," the stranger said.

"Spasibo," the man in front of the computer said.

Kazakhstan gasped in shock, finally aware that it was Russia in front of the computer. She looked towards the man that brought her, only to see that he had vanished.

Russia turned towards her and smiled, and she took a nervous step back. Russia noticed that and his smile vanished, only to be replaced by a frown.

"I will not harm you," Russia said. "I had you brought here for your protection. You know what Amodi does to nations?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Are you really just trying to protect me?" she asked. "Because kidnapping isn't a great start."

"They had killed the satellites before I had a chance to call you," Russia explained. "Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia had received the call, and they had come of their own volition. Czech and Slovakia are also here."

Kazakhstan pursed her lips before nodding her head.

"What are you working on?" she asked.

"I am _trying_ to find a satellite that they had overlooked," Russia said. "Whoever it was that killed the satellites, he was thorough. I've already gone through a dozen today."

Kazakhstan winced, before she turned around. She thought that she might leave Russia alone, and it might be beneficial if she went to find one of the others.

"Make yourself at home," Russia said offhandedly.

"Thanks," she said.

…

"So, we're still waiting for the South Americans?" Romano asked, taking a sip of wine.

Italy nodded his head, before he sipped from his own wineglass.

Italy, Romano, Seborga, San Marino and Vatican were all in Italy's office, away from the others. It had been a while since the five brothers had gotten together, and they decided to take advantage of the opportunity before the meeting.

Vatican and San Marino were sitting next to each other, generally trying to avoid their brothers' eyes. So far, Romano had been quiet about it, but they were just waiting for him to say something. To lash out at them.

And they knew that Romano knew, based on the furtive glances he would shoot them. Before his true nature was revealed and if other nations were nearby, Romano would have given them such a wicked tongue-lashing that would sting like a hundred lashes from a cat o' nine tails, but they knew that it wasn't how he truly was.

It didn't change the fact that he was their brother, who had a tendency to react negatively if he was shocked enough.

"How are all the prisoners doing?" Italy asked.

"They're behaving," Romano said. "And get this: Brazil is in love with South Africa."

Italy did a spit take, and the others all looked at Romano with wide eyes.

"Are you serious?" Italy asked.

"Si," Romano said, sipping his drink. "But it's useless now."

"Hmm. I don't think Israel would appreciate a love triangle."

"In other words, this stays between us," San Marino said.

"Brazil had his heart broken," Romano said. "But… The last few days, he's been handling it pretty well."

"That's not good," Italy said. "That means he's up to something."

"What does it matter? There's nothing they can do."

…

Michoacán had stepped outside for a while. There was nothing much at the airport, but after being confined in the plane, it was better than nothing.

She heard Cortez hiss and turned to see a white bird flying towards her, carrying a letter in its beak. She held out her hand, allowing the bird to perch on it, before taking the letter. She placed the bird on the opposite shoulder from the one that Cortez was occupying and unfurled the paper.

 _Michoacán, it's Picardy. I want to know what's going on from your end. Also, do you or America know anything about Quebec? We know he's a Canadian province, but that's it. Tokyo said he found him wandering around. And… Well, he's not in the best state, to be honest. I've seen corpses less pale than him._

Michoacán frowned. It was obvious that they didn't quite trust Quebec, and wanted to know more. But… She had never met him. She didn't even know that there _was_ a personification of Quebec.

And now a thought struck her: what happened to the regions, states or provinces of Amodi nations? Given Mexico's hostility towards her, and their attempts to kill all of the other nations' regions and other territories…

Michoacán shuddered, but it brought up a good point: _why_ was Quebec still alive?

She wondered if America would know anything about Quebec.

With that in mind, she headed back inside. And she wondered if it was possible for them to go to the regions' location so that she could interrogate Quebec herself.

…

"Come on," an apparent boy whispered.

"You don't have to tell me," another whispered back.

"Be quiet, you two," a girl whispered harshly.

The three of them snuck around a large house, hiding under the windows. They tried to listen closely, but they couldn't hear a thing. All they knew was that two enemies stayed in the house, as well as their four prisoners.

They were trying to get the prisoners without alerting the enemies. But it was made more difficult by the fact that they didn't know the precise location of either side.

"One of us would need to look inside," the girl whispered.

"I'll do it," the first boy offered.

He carefully peeked through the nearest window, before he smiled.

"I see Iceland," he said.

"Is he alone?" the second boy asked.

"Yes."

"Then try to get his attention," the girl whispered.

The boy started tapping on the window, and once he stopped they all held their breaths. Soon the window was opened, and Iceland was staring at them in perplexity.

"Åland," he said, "Faroe, Greenland. What are you doing here?"

"We came to rescue you," Åland said.

"We can't leave you with them," Faroe added.

Iceland shook his head.

"You need to leave," he said. "If Romania finds you…"

"Romania?" Greenland repeated.

"What about Finland?" Åland asked.

"He left," Iceland said. "I think they have a meeting or something."

"Then you can escape if only one of them is here," Greenland said.

Iceland shook their head.

"They did something that keeps us from leaving," Iceland said. "If we do, we die."

Greenland bit her lip.

"Those bastards," she said. "There has to be another way."

"If there is, I'm open to suggestions," Iceland said.

"Are they at least treating you alright?" Faroe asked.

"They aren't torturing us, if that's what you're asking."

"Good to know," Åland said, smiling.

"If there's anything we can do, let us know," Faroe said.

"Get out of here," Iceland said. "From what I've heard, Romania is particularly bloodthirsty, and I noticed he looks bored. You _don't_ want him to catch you guys."

The trio nodded their heads, and with one last word of farewell or luck from each they retreated, being careful to not be spotted by Romania.

…

Czech was staring at Vilnius with a frown on her face. The capital was busy with a bunch of papers, and she absently wondered if she was drawing or something.

All efforts to get the younger female to speak to her had backfired. And she was starting to get annoyed.

Slovakia entered the room and saw her. He smiled sympathetically.

"Are you still trying?" Slovakia asked.

She shot him a look but said nothing. Slovakia chuckled before leaning against her chair.

"I've never seen you this determined to befriend someone," Slovakia commented.

"Then you've just not been looking," she said.

"Why _are_ you so interested in her, anyway?"

Czech didn't say a word, and Slovakia sighed.

"Try inviting her to a game," he said. "I noticed that Russia keeps a lot of board games here."

"You really think that would work?" she asked.

"She's a kid. She should probably like games."

"'Should probably'?"

"Insurance in case it backfires and you plan on blaming me."

Czech glared at him, to which he gave a mischievous smile. Czech sighed, before she approached Vilnius.

"Hey there," she said. "You wouldn't like to play a game or something, would you?"

Vilnius looked at her and cocked her head, which Czech assumed was a prompt to continue.

"Have you ever played chess before?" Czech asked, to which Vilnius nodded. "Really? Would you like to play with me?"

Vilnius paused, looking as though she was pondering the proposition. At least she didn't shrink away or retreat like the other times Czech tried to approach her. Finally she shrugged, which Czech assumed was a 'yes'.

"Great," Czech said. "Let's go find the chess set, and then we can play."

…

"Quebec?" America asked, scratching his head. "I know Canada said once that he had a nightmare about a Quebec being born, but…"

"You've never met him?" Michoacán asked.

"Nope. Sorry, dudette."

Michoacán sighed in frustration.

"I don't know if he can be trusted," she said. "I'm worried about them now."

"Do you want us to stop at their place when we're finished over here?" America asked.

"That would be nice. I'd like to interrogate Quebec myself. I need to make sure they're not in danger."

America nodded his head.

"Then we have something to do when we're finished," America said. "Um, where _are_ they?"

…

Quebec awoke to a strange sensation from his head. He reached up to scratch it when he felt a delicate hand.

He turned around to see Catalonia, who blushed. He realised that it was her hand.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just… your hair's so pretty. And it feels so soft."

Quebec frowned, before he touched his hair. Could hair really be that soft? He felt something on his other side and saw Madeira, playing with his hair as well.

"It's such a beautiful colour," she said. "I wish mine could be like this."

He didn't quite understand what their fixation with his hair was about, but he had to admit that he didn't mind what they were doing.

…

"So, what now?" Faroe asked.

Åland sighed.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Green, do you have any ideas?"

She shook her head.

"I had hoped we'd get Norway and Iceland out," she said. "I wanted _them_ to take charge."

"That's strange of you," Åland remarked.

Greenland bit her lip, but said nothing.

Faroe jumped, and they turned to look at him. They saw that there was a white bird perched on his shoulder.

"What's this?" Greenland asked, taking the letter the bird was carrying.

Greenland silently read the letter, and the two males exchanged a look.

"Green, what's it say?" Faroe asked.

Greenland looked up, a grin on her face.

"We have a new course of action," she said.

 **I wanted this chapter to be the meeting of the Amodi nations. Next one, it would seem.**


	55. Chapter 54

**Thanks to V, Terra, Parlemour, StarCadet, multishipping, pastaaddict, GreenIsBeautiful, ScandinavianTrash and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 54**

After quite a journey as well as impromptu camping, Poland finally found a cabin in the mountains. Taking the letter opener out of his pocket, he grinned when the item confirmed it.

He had reached Mongolia's location.

"Finally," Poland muttered. "Revenge is mine."

…

Italy looked around at all of the allies gathered there. The only ones missing were Mexico and Confederacy (due to the fact that he didn't want to pull them back right after he gave them permission to go on a vacation), Poland (who was still hunting Mongolia), Romania and India (who were keeping watch over their respective prisoners) and Israel (who couldn't blow his cover with White).

Puerto Rico was nervously looking around. Italy was pleased to see that he had made no attempt to escape, and that he was making himself as small as possible. Peru had started with keeping an eye on him, but apparently it had grown boring, so he was chatting with Ethiopia instead.

Many of the others were shooting nervous glances towards Liechtenstein. She _looked_ calm, but it was clear that she was furious. She was still thinking about her revenge, but for now would listen. The Bonds didn't allow her to do anything that would be against the interests of the other members.

Italy cleared his throat, and everyone silenced their conversations, turning their attentions to him.

"It's time for this meeting to begin," Italy said. "First, we need to discuss America's land."

Canada glanced towards Liechtenstein, and there was a spark of anger in her eyes.

"I _thought_ I was given free reign," she said.

"You are," Italy said. "You just need a plan of action. And you need to be sure about where your boundaries are. And we need to officially make the land no-man's-land before you do damage to Canada, Mexico and Confederacy. That wouldn't be fair to your _allies_ , now would it?"

Liechtenstein grumbled, but said nothing.

"We also need to decide what to do with Puerto Rico," Italy said, looking towards said nation.

Puerto Rico shrunk under the gaze. Liechtenstein turned to him with a sweet smile that only served to send chills down his spine.

"Italy told me that you think you can be useful," Liechtenstein said. "Why don't we go speak in private about it?"

Puerto Rico shuddered, looking between Liechtenstein and Italy. Italy sighed, waving his hand dismissively.

"We don't really need you here anymore," Italy said. "Go ahead."

Puerto Rico's eyes widened before he was dragged off by Liechtenstein. Switzerland shook his head.

"I feel sorry for him," he said.

"If he's useless, Liechtenstein will be the one to deal with him," Italy said offhandedly. "Now, the next issue. The regions."

"We can go kill them," Ladonia said, "like we did the others."

"But why ruin the chance to get them all together?" Italy asked, smirking. "It will save us the trouble of having to look for them."

"And Tokyo is there as well," Canada said. "Along with Quebec."

"Can Quebec be trusted?" Seborga asked.

"He won't go against me. He's too afraid. And he doesn't want to return to the pathetic existence he used to have. He would happily let someone else take his place."

"What's the point of having him there?" Hutt River asked.

"A distraction," Italy said. "He comes from one of our lands. He is immediately suspicious. The regions will naturally want to keep their eyes on him, regardless of his condition. If they suspect him of being a spy, _he_ will be the one to suffer while our _actual_ spy goes about his business as though nothing is wrong."

"How can we be sure that Quebec wouldn't say anything?" Kugelmugel asked. "Betray us?"

"Because he's barely able to speak," Canada said. "And because he fears returning to his imprisonment. This taste of freedom will make him even more reluctant to return to it."

"And Tokyo will keep an eye on him," Egypt explained.

"What'll we do if he _does_ betray us?" Romano asked.

"We've already established that his imprisonment was a fate worse than death for him," Canada said. "He'll simply return."

"We'll wait for Tokyo to inform us that all of them are gathered," Italy said. "He'll also inform us of whoever they sent their invitations to, so that we know who to attack _before_ they have the chance to recruit them. And the micronations will continue to hunt down whoever they haven't approached yet."

"Why don't we stop the ones that they've sent their 'invitations' to?" Finland asked.

"Wouldn't you say it looks suspicious?" Italy asked. "After all, they're killed _just_ before they can join them? That would most certainly confirm that there's a spy in their midst."

"Then let them suspect Quebec," South Korea said.

"Tokyo reported that Catalonia and Madeira are keeping a _very_ close eye on him, and that he isn't sure if they each have a crush or are just very motherly. They even gave him a bath."

Canada looked a little disturbed by the revelation.

"If the former is true, and it continues, then we could use it to our advantage," San Marino said. "After all, love triangles can be a valuable acquisition."

"Speaking of which," Italy said, turning his attention to North, "we need to find Netherlands. Any luck?"

North shook his head.

"It seems as though they're off the grid," Belarus said. "Or they could have decided to leave their cell phones behind, since they can't use them anymore."

Italy looked thoughtful, before he turned his attention to Wales.

"Do you think it would be possible to track them through magic?" Italy asked.

"It _should_ ," Wales said. "Though it might take a while."

"As long as they're not planning something, time shouldn't be an issue. And see if you can figure out if they _are_ planning something."

"I'll help with that," Egypt said.

"Good. But in the meantime… South Korea, how did things go with Pakistan?"

"We couldn't find him," South grumbled, and Italy chuckled.

"I'm sure India would be disappointed," Italy said. "But for now, I have another job for you. One that requires the assistance of Philippines and, if he feels up to it, North Korea."

Said nations looked at him intrigued.

"And what is this job?" Philippines asked.

"I couldn't help but notice that Asia seems a little bare," Italy said. "And between Pakistan, Mongolia and China's group, it would seem that they're all smart enough to go into hiding. So instead of going to kill them personally, why don't we do things the old-fashioned way?"

"You mean…?" South asked, a smirk on his face.

Italy nodded.

"You may decide how to go about it, as long as the countries you're attacking are not in our possession. Philippines had a little practice with this, correct?"

"I guess," Philippines said.

"We need to _really_ do something about Asia," Italy sighed.

"And where do I come in?"

Italy turned to Antarctica, who was the one that had spoken.

"You are to go to Russia and search the country for him," Italy said. "North Korea has tried tracking him, but he seems to have a jammer or something, because the signal keeps jumping around."

"I can give you a map of Russia's bases," Belarus said.

"Not necessary," Antarctica said. "I'm good at sensing life. Especially when I know what I'm looking for."

Italy nodded.

"At the moment, Russia is the biggest threat, and after him we have China and then America," Italy informed.

"Isn't America usually higher on the list?" Switzerland asked.

"He's suffering from having territories taken, and a nuclear reactor being attacked. He's significantly weaker than he usually is. So, Finland, how's Romania doing? Is he bored already?"

"Yes, actually," Finland said.

"Then I have a task for him. Egypt, you continue with the Middle Eastern nations once you're feeling up to it. Peru, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, you may continue with the Central Americans."

"Understood," Argentina said.

"And what about us?" Eritrea asked.

"It gets a little boring, having nothing to do," Somalia said.

"You will get to oversee mining and construction," Italy said. "We need the resources of Africa. And in exchange, we'll help the nations move forward. Did anyone have any problems?"

"Not yet," Libya said. "They were _very_ happy about the cleaner water, though."

"Then continue with that," Italy said. "Pretend as though you're humanitarians. Keep your militaries out of it for as long as possible. And _please_ , don't try to bring any sort of religion into it. That's probably the fastest way to encourage anarchy."

"Understood," Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Libya said.

"Good," Italy said. "And now, I wish to hear reports from your end."

"What about Oceania?" Chile asked.

"When you're finished with Central America, you can have at it," Italy said offhandedly. "Now, reports."

…

Puerto Rico grunted as he was slammed against a wall. He hadn't expected Liechtenstein to have as much strength as she did. But he didn't voice his surprise, intimidated by the dark smile on her face.

"So, let me hear it," she said.

"H-hear what?" he stuttered.

"What makes you think that you can be useful against America?"

He gulped nervously, aware of the fact that _she_ was the one to decide his fate. And he had never been so afraid of anyone in his life.

"M-many of my people l-live in A-America's land," he stuttered. "A-and I know the l-landscape w-well."

She cocked her head to the side.

"The Bonds allow Operation Parasite to extend to new members," she mused. "But only to a degree. And if you _do_ know his land…"

Liechtenstein looked thoughtful for a moment, before grinning darkly. Puerto Rico knew that it meant that either she found him useful, or she _didn't_ find him useful and was about to dispose of him.

"What exactly did America do to you?" Liechtenstein purred. "What has he done to you to warrant such a reaction from you?"

Puerto Rico didn't expect that question, and he averted his eyes.

"He used me as a possession," Puerto Rico said. "He told me that he would make arrangements to make me a state of his, and that I should be _proud_ that he would want that for me. He just wanted more land. He thinks that it's his right."

Liechtenstein's eyes narrowed.

"That _does_ sound just like America," she said. "He thinks he's entitled to it. That it's his _manifest destiny_ to own as much land as possible. Big nations are always making the smaller nations suffer. We're not allowed to exist without their influence. We have to _rely_ on them for survival."

Puerto Rico could feel a small bubble of rage, expanding with each word. She knew what it was like. And it was true.

He didn't notice as a black ribbon came from Liechtenstein's left hand, slowly coiling around his own, extending into his heart. But the more she spoke, the angrier he felt. And the more hatred.

Liechtenstein suddenly stopped, before she smirked.

"Yes, I think you will be _very_ useful," she said.

…

Australia was pacing furiously while New Zealand was lying on the bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling. They were left alone, except for mealtimes, but at this point they didn't care.

They could no longer feel their lands or people. It was as the micronations had said. They were no longer nations.

And what made it worse was that they _knew_ that they had no purpose anymore. They had no more reason to be kept alive. So, why _were_ they? It couldn't just be because Australia treated Wy and Hutt River right. There had to be a plan for them.

Right?

They were both secretly hoping that there was a bigger scheme involving them. Otherwise… They had to exist as humans, with the connection to their lands and people completely severed. They were simply forced to _be_ there. And they had already learned that they were both weaker than they were before, which meant that there was no way they could even _attempt_ to fight them off.

It _couldn't_ be their fate, could it? They _couldn't_ simply live as prisoners, after losing the most important parts of their identities.

It was a fate worse than death.

…

Hong Kong and Tibet nervously glanced towards Laos, who had his head buried in his hands. He was staring at the maps Italy had given him, in the hopes of getting a prophetic dream. But so far, nothing.

And they knew that at the moment, Laos was the most useful to Amodi. And if he _failed_ to be useful, what would happen to them?

…

"And that's the story," Catalonia sighed.

Isle of man and Gibraltar had been interested in Quebec, and Catalonia had explained it to them. Madeira was still with Quebec, making sure that nothing happened while he was connected to the IV.

"I can't believe that someone would do this," Isle of Man said. "I mean, Quebec is essentially related to Canada. If not a son, then at least a brother, right?"

"I guess it just goes to show how evil they are," Gibraltar said. "Or how crazy. The fact that they could do something to one of their own provinces…"

"It's sick," Catalonia said. "And it makes you wonder what they did to the rest."

Isle of Man shuddered.

"I don't even want to think about it," she said.

…

Andorra had welcomed Greenland, Faroe and Åland to his home, and he and Basque had explained what had happened on their end (the only interesting thing actually being Quebec). In return, the new arrivals had explained what they had learned from Iceland: that nations captured by Amodi _couldn't_ escape, or else they'd die.

Which again raised the issue of Quebec: he had essentially been captured by Amodi, and yet he was there. _Why_ was he still alive then? Could it be that he was working for Amodi?

Tokyo remained silent throughout the conversation/debate, smirking inwardly all the way.

…

Mongolia was struggling in his bonds, looking nervously at Poland, who was circling him like a predator circling its prey, though he looked a little bored.

"I'm surprised you managed to find me," Mongolia said.

"We have more resources on our side than you can possibly imagine," Poland said.

Mongolia kept his eyes on the younger nation. Even though he looked bored, he could sense the anger rolling off of him in waves. Anger and hatred.

It didn't escape his notice that there was a black ribbon tied around his hand. He had no clue what it might mean, but he could see that it wasn't an ordinary ribbon, if the faint glow emanating from it was anything to go by.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Mongolia asked. "Torture me before you kill me?"

"Something like that," Poland said.

"Then why don't you get on with it?"

"Trying to think of the best way to go about it."

Mongolia smirked.

"Never prepared, I see," Mongolia said. "Impulsive as always. Or is it just you're incapable of thinking things through before you do them? No wonder you were partitioned. Twice."

He had sort of expected the punch he received, but that just meant that he succeeded in getting under the Pole's skin.

"Did I hit a sore spot?" Mongolia taunted.

"Shut up," Poland snarled. "The partitioning was deliberate."

"Because you didn't want to fight. And you didn't have anyone around to protect you anymore. So sorry you're little Lithuania couldn't save you."

"If you think _that's_ going to get a reaction out of me, you're mistaken," Poland said. "I never cared about Lithuania, and I allowed the end of our commonwealth to happen. I _let_ him save me a few times, and I _let_ him get dragged away by Russia. I _let_ myself look weak."

"Even with me?"

Poland didn't answer, and Mongolia smirked.

"You like to claim that everything you did was according to some master plan," Mongolia said. "But that wasn't always true, was it? You were really weak when I first met you. That's why you were so easily conquered. Why I could humiliate you so. I'm the one that got you used to dressing like a woman, or am I wrong?"

"Shut up," Poland whispered.

"Tell me, which part made it worse for you? The time I smacked you away so hard, and you hit your head against the stone wall? Your speech was slurred for _months_. I actually thought that I was responsible for the way you used to speak, or was that an act?"

"Shut up!" Poland shouted, pulling out a gun.

Mongolia smirked, and Poland lowered the weapon.

"I see," Poland said. "You're trying to make me angry enough that I would skip the torture and go straight to killing you."

Mongolia's eyes narrowed, and Poland smirked, before he aimed the gun at Mongolia's leg. He pulled the trigger, and Mongolia screeched in pain when the bullet was buried inside his leg. It hurt more than a bullet should, even at point blank.

"Do you like it?" Poland asked. "These bullets are miniature nuclear weapons. Hurts like a bitch when it hits a nation. And a fatal wound from this would definitely kill a nation."

Mongolia glared, sweat dripping down his face. Poland's smirk widened.

"I'm not the weak little child that I used to be," Poland said. "I'm not someone you can dress up as a girl and then throw to your soldiers who want 'female company'. You're at _my_ mercy now, and I don't plan on showing you any."

…

Quebec looked up when Catalonia entered the room, followed by two young women that he didn't know. He frowned, looking questioningly at Catalonia.

"This is Isle of Man and Gibraltar," Catalonia said. "They wanted to meet you."

"Well, you can obviously see the French influence," Isle of Man said. "I'm sure Arthur would have freaked out about it."

"What the hell?"

They turned to see another young woman at the door, looking at Quebec in shock.

"How the hell could they have done this?" the new arrival asked.

"Hey Greenland," Madeira greeted casually. "Didn't know you were here too."


	56. Chapter 55

**Thanks to ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict and teabrows for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 55**

Greenland stepped closer, eyes trained on Quebec. He averted his eyes, not used to having this much – actually, _any_ – attention placed on him. The only person that had paid him any attention was Canada, and his attention had been accompanied by torment.

"How the hell did this happen?" Greenland asked.

"This is what a few decades of neglect would do to you," Madeira said sadly, lightly stroking a lock of Quebec's hair. "You should have seen what he looked like when he first got here."

"You mean, it was _worse_?"

"A lot," Catalonia said. "His eyes don't look as dead anymore, and at least he's clean now. You _don't_ want to know how long _that_ took."

"And we've been feeding him with an IV," Madeira said. "He can't even hold down a bite of dry toast."

Greenland balled her hands into fists.

"And… is this his nation's doing?" she asked.

The others nodded, and Greenland looked absolutely disgusted.

"They have no regard for the lives of others," she said. "What they did to the Nordics… And now _him_? How… How did they manage to get away with all of it for so long?"

"No one knew what they were really like," Isle of Man said. "I mean, look at Canada. He was always quiet, polite…"

"Yeah, and how many serial killers come across as being so?" Greenland snapped.

"You… might have a point."

Quebec avoided their eyes. He didn't like the way they were speaking about him, but he couldn't voice his objection. He also didn't like any reminders about Canada, and how he had treated him.

He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Gibraltar looking at him with a gentle expression. He could feel his nerves calming slightly at her gentle look, and he carefully took her hand.

The others seemed to notice this exchange, for they fell silent in favour of watching him. Greenland sighed.

"Now what?" she asked.

"We're going to do whatever we can to make him better," Madeira said.

"And… how?"

"How's his walking?" Gibraltar asked.

"He's a little unsteady, and he leans against a lot of things," Catalonia said. "But… not _too_ bad, all things considered."

"I think we should start working on his lower body strength, then," Greenland said.

…

Mongolia struggled, trying desperately to get free. Poland had stuffed a cloth into his mouth after getting annoyed by Mongolia trying to get under his skin and trying to talk his way out of it.

Mongolia wondered idly if he was the reason why Poland had become so messed up.

The European had shot him a few times in his arms and legs, allowing him to experience pain unlike any he had ever felt before. He could now understand how the nations of Amodi had managed to kill so many nations.

Poland had gone to the kitchen area for now, and Mongolia shuddered to think what would come of it. He was starting to wish for a swift death, but Poland wouldn't do that. As the other had said, Mongolia was at his mercy, and he had no intention of showing any.

Poland returned, grinning as he carried a cup filled with toothpicks. Mongolia kept his eyes on it warily.

"You were certainly intending to stay here for a while," Poland said. "Lucky me."

Mongolia's eyes narrowed. What did Poland intend to do with toothpicks? As though reading his mind, Poland's grin widened.

"Hey, have you ever played those would-you-rather games?" Poland asked. "You know, a while back I came across this question: Would you rather have a pin underneath your big toenail as you purposely stub your toe, or have a thousand papercuts and then take a dip in a pool of lemonade?"

Mongolia widened his eyes, and he frantically shook his head.

"I also noticed that you had lemon juice in the kitchen," Poland said offhandedly. "But, one thing at a time, right?"

Mongolia started to struggle as Poland approached. His ankles had been tied to the feet of the chair, and he wondered if Poland had planned this earlier. Poland calmly stooped down, pleased that Mongolia decided to forgo any shoes indoors. He took a toothpick and calmly positioned it under the other's big toe.

"Hmm, now how should I stub it?" Poland asked, before looking around. "Oh, I know."

Poland stood up and then proceeded to push the chair with Mongolia to the nearest wall. Mongolia struggled desperately, tears streaming down his face.

There were a few centimetres between his foot and the wall, and Poland stooped down to untie the ankle. Mongolia tried to kick out, but the moment he was free, he accidentally hit the wall. He screamed as the toothpick made its way into his toe.

"Thanks for making it easier," Poland said offhandedly. "Now for the other foot."

…

America and Michoacán had stayed behind once again, though this time Kuwait was with them, sleeping peacefully. Qatar had also gone to join Yemen's group this time. When they had gone to get Kuwait, Qatar was stuck in the bathroom with a bit of airsickness. And apparently, something he ate was disagreeing with him. He was the only one to have experienced the discomfort, so perhaps he was just getting sick.

"I hope everyone's doing alright," America said.

"Which 'everyone' are you referring to?" Michoacán asked.

"Russia, China and Turkey."

"Oh. Yeah, I'm sure they're doing fine."

"Should we send messages again?"

"Let's leave it for now. Nothing much has happened, and they might start to find you annoying."

"You're probably right. Sorry about that."

…

Russia was getting a little nervous. He hadn't heard from America again. And usually the younger nation was pretty demanding about getting in contact. Did something happen?

General Winter had retrieved Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Now all that was left was Tajikistan. He still needed to decide whether or not to go after Afghanistan and Pakistan as well.

He should probably consult the others.

He jumped when his cell phone rang, and he hesitantly answered it.

"Who is this?" he demanded.

"Nice to hear from you too," the other said. Poland.

"What do you want?" Russia snarled.

"Hey now, I think I'm doing you a favour," Poland said. "Listen to this."

He heard a scream on the other side, and he instantly recognised the voice, though he couldn't recall ever hearing that sound coming from him.

"Mongolia?" Russia asked.

"Yep," Poland said. "A beautiful sound, don't you think? He doesn't seem to like lemon juice. Wonder why he had it in his secret home in the mountain. Well, that's all I wanted to say. Do widzenia."

Poland disconnected the call, and Russia was left to ponder. He found himself feeling happy about Mongolia's predicament, before he felt disgusted with himself. He was finding himself feeling _happy_ about what Amodi was doing?

He shook his head, and he decided to get a bottle of vodka. Before he could stand, however, he noticed something on the screen in front of him. It was a small blip, most likely from the satellite that Poland had used to contact him.

He immediately sprang into action, and he smiled when he realised that the satellite was connected to other satellites.

It would seem that Poland still had a habit of not thinking things through.

…

North Korea received a text from Poland, and he grinned when he saw the contents.

 _I called Russia. See if you can track him._

This would certainly work in his advantage.

The meeting was over, so while everyone was busy with small talk, he made his way to his room, where his computer would be waiting.

…

"One thing I like about the Spanish and Portuguese," India said, "you're not too scared of using spice."

The prisoners watched him warily. Portugal had made them all something to eat, and India had invited himself to join them. They made it clear that he wasn't welcome among them, but he acted as though he was completely oblivious. The truth of the matter was that he simply didn't care, and he was in the position of authority, which meant that there was nothing the others could do about it.

Though they weren't very pleased when India added extra hot sauce to the dish.

…

"Could we _please_ get a move on?" Syria whined.

"And where are we supposed to go?" Turkey asked. "I'm open to suggestions."

Syria huffed, before he picked up a dagger. Hungary grabbed his wrist, and he looked towards her with a raised eyebrow.

"You've already sharpened that thing three times," she said firmly. "Time to give it a break."

Syria pouted, putting down the dagger. He groaned in annoyance.

"I'm. So. _Bored_ ," he whined.

"We noticed," Hungary remarked dryly. "Don't you have any DVDs or something?"

He glared at her, and she sighed in annoyance.

"Hindsight is really kicking you in the butt, isn't it?" she said.

…

Quebec collapsed against the wall, panting in exertion. He had only walked short distances, and usually with the support of something nearby. To walk on his own like this… He wasn't used to doing something like that.

"You're doing great," Madeira encouraged.

He gave her an exasperated look, before pushing away from the wall and walking back towards her. His legs were stiff, and he was glad that he had the habit of fidgeting around in his imprisonment, usually just getting into a crouching position or something. He didn't want to imagine what it would be like otherwise.

He was about halfway back when his legs gave out from under him. He yelped in alarm, before someone caught him. He looked up to see Gibraltar, who smiled at him gently.

"Looks like it's time to take a break," she said.

"Yeah," Isle of Man said. "He's so thin. A fall could really hurt him."

Isle of Man and Gibraltar helped him towards the bed, while the other girls watched him carefully.

"I wonder how much he weighs," Greenland said offhandedly.

"See if you can find a scale," Catalonia said. "We should have thought of it sooner."

Greenland nodded, before rushing out of the room. Quebec was panting as he was placed into a sitting position onto the bed, and he rested his head against Gibraltar's shoulder.

"Maybe we should take him outside for a bit," Madeira suggested. "You know, let him get some sun and all."

"Good idea," Catalonia said.

Just then, Greenland ran in with a scale under her arms. She looked a little annoyed.

"Tokyo wanted to know what I was doing with this," she said. "And when I told him, he looked annoyed. Said that it isn't my place."

"Funny, considering he's the one that brought him here," Madeira said.

"The boys seem to have trouble trusting him," Gibraltar said. She looked towards Quebec. "We'll show them that there's no way he could do any damage."

At the mention of Tokyo, Quebec's eyes had widened slightly. At Gibraltar's words he nodded, but he had a feeling that Tokyo would find a way to get to him. If he was angry, then things didn't look good for Quebec.

"Come on," Greenland prompted, shaking Quebec out of his reverie. "Just stand on the scale, and we'll see how much you weigh."

"It's good for tracking our progress," Catalonia said.

Quebec nodded, and he weakly stood from the bed before standing on the scale. He watched the figures changing, before one of the girls brought her hand under his chin and made him look up.

"You'll get a more accurate reading if you stand straight," Madeira said.

Quebec made a small noise of assent, and soon he heard a gasp. He looked down and saw the number on the scale.

"I've heard of people who died from anorexia having more body weight," Greenland said, her eyes wide.

"I think he pretty much only has bone mass and organ mass," Isle of Man said, her eyes equally wide.

"I think 'underweight' is an understatement," Gibraltar said.

Hearing their words, Quebec only became more despaired.

…

Jordan silently stared at the nations around her. She was surprised to see America with the others, but she supposed that desperate times called for desperate measures.

Yemen cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him.

"Do you know anything about the state of affairs in Israel?" Yemen asked.

"Yes," Jordan said simply. "He's a member of Amodi. I've seen their symbol around."

"They have a symbol?" America asked.

"Si," Michoacán saw. "I briefly saw it before I escaped Mexico. It's a wolf and eagle shown back-to-back."

"That's right," Jordan said. "I think that the people adopt the symbol as soon as their nations join. Kind of like how a few of Germany's allies adopted the swastika in World War Two."

"What about nations they conquered?" Oman asked.

"No idea – but I think that takes longer."

"So Israel is out of bounds," Michoacán said. "But what about Palestine and Gaza?"

"Those two are in serious trouble. We _have_ to get them."

"Of course. But we can't let the Israeli army see our arrival coming."

"Which means we'll have to travel _around_ Israel to first get to Gaza, and then find our way into Palestine."

"Presuming they're still alive."

As they were going on, the male nations looked between the two females. Eventually America sighed, drawing their attention towards him.

"I get the feeling that the two of you will get along great," he said, to which the other males agreed.

…

Canada had noticed that Egypt had disappeared a while ago, dragging Belarus along. He wasn't worried, since the Bonds prevented them from cheating on their lovers (if the Bonds were weaker, he'd have reason to worry). He was merely curious about what Egypt would need Belarus's help for.

Making sure that nobody needed _him_ for the moment, he left the room, before conducting his search for his lover.

He eventually found them in Italy's office, which was only Italy's because he liked to work there. Everyone had full access to the contents. It was mostly to promote trust between them.

The two of them had a map of the Middle East between them, with Belarus carrying some sort of crystal. Canada made his way to Egypt's side before sitting down next to him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"He asked my help to see what the Middle Eastern nations are doing," Belarus explained. "And what they _will_ do."

While Egypt, Romania and now Wales were experts at magic, Belarus was skilled in fortune telling. However, she didn't use it too often, seeing as it gave her a major headache whenever she had to make predictions.

And it was better to use a prisoner than to use an ally, as the prisoner would be affected by its ill effects while the ally would conserve their energy. Plus, Belarus was still a little mad at Italy for sending North on his previous mission.

"And you're okay with this?" Canada asked.

"It's short-term," Belarus said. "It wouldn't be a problem."

Canada shrugged, looking at the two of them going about their business. If he was bothering them, then he would leave.

"How do you wish to start?" Belarus asked.

"How about showing us the Middle Eastern nations that haven't joined up with America's group yet?" Egypt suggested.

Belarus nodded her head, and placed the crystal on the map. The crystal moved on its own, first going towards Egypt's land, then focusing on three separate places in Israel, before going to Lebanon. It then moved to Syria, Turkey and Cyprus.

"It's being very specific," Belarus said.

"Everyone who didn't join with America's group," Egypt said. "Including Israel and I. And obviously focusing on the ones that are still alive. But what it comes down to is that Gaza, Palestine and Lebanon are still roaming free. But I think Israel would like to take care of Gaza and Palestine himself. Which leaves only Lebanon available."

"Would you like to see which route they will take?" Belarus asked.

"That could prove useful."

Belarus nodded, and the crystal first moved to Jordan, before moving around Israel, then going towards the Gaza strip, and finally making its way to Palestine, where it stopped.

"It seems they have no plans to go towards Lebanon," Egypt said. "I think I should take the advantage while I can."

"Are you up to it?" Canada asked.

Egypt smiled at him, before pulling him closer. Canada was surprised when Egypt kissed him, but he quickly smiled. The kiss was broken by Belarus clearing her throat.

"I'll be fine, as long as I have you with me," Egypt said.

Canada smiled.

"Then I'll go where you will go," Canada said.

Egypt then turned his attention to Belarus again.

"And what of Turkey's group?" he asked. "Where are they?"

The crystal moved again, this time to Syria. Egypt grinned, since the crystal made no further move.

"They're making no further move," Egypt said. "Excellent. Then we'll go there, as soon as we've finished with Lebanon."

"Perhaps you should avoid groups," Canada suggested. "After what happened last time…"

Egypt glanced towards him and sighed, before nodding his head.

"Alright then," Egypt said. "At least until I've got my strength up."

"That's better," Canada said, before he kissed him on the cheek.

Belarus sighed, before standing up.

"I'm going to see if I can find Jeng…" she said.

…

Poland stared at Mongolia, a bored expression on his face. The latter had gained a few more cuts and he was wet and sticky in a few places, with the scent of lemon being particularly strong.

"I thought I'd be able to drag this on for hours," Poland said. "But… you're actually pretty boring. You're a real disappointment, you know that?"

Mongolia glared, and Poland sighed in annoyance. He lifted his gun, before checking to make sure he still had enough ammunition.

"Looks like I have one shot left," Poland said, before placing the barrel between Mongolia's eyes. "So this shot is going to count. Bye-bye."

 **I don't know much about biology, but Quebec basically weighs less than the minimum a normal human would be able to weigh without being a corpse. I think it would barely be in the double digits (kg, of course).**

 **I kind of forgot that Belarus was a fortune-teller as well. So doesn't use it too often, and she's using Egypt to amplify her powers. Egypt would be able to tell where they were on his own, but not where they were going, and that was the main point.**


	57. Chapter 56

**Thanks to Time Turner, Terra, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Core, TooShyToReview, ScandinavianTrash, shoujochan, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **And Quebec's** _ **weight**_ **itself is incredibly low – about less than 20 kg, and the only weight he has is attributed to bones and organs, and even** _ **those**_ **are a little underweight. He'd be around 165 cm in height. His muscle mass is virtually non-existent. Once you start working out the BMI… In the first chapter he appeared in, it was mentioned that his body kept dying, but because of the nation immortality that he also has, he doesn't die for good.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 56**

Turkey was restlessly drumming his fingers as well. There was no telling when Egypt would be coming, but they knew that he _would_. After all, it had been made clear that Egypt hated the Arab world. And since Turkey and Syria were part of it, Egypt would come for them.

But why was it taking so long?

Sure, he knew that America's group had injured him, but could his recovery really be taking that long? And why had he been waiting so long to get to them in the first place?

The answer came to him almost immediately: because they were in a group. Drawing on his memories as the Ottoman Empire, he thought of all the strategies he would use, and what had been used against him. And he came to the conclusion that they would seek out whoever was weakest, and go for the weaklings first.

Another alternative would be to take on the stronger, in an effort to prove themselves to be the strongest. But the fact that they hadn't been attacked yet proved that that wasn't the case. Although, America's group had faced off against Egypt, and Egypt had been injured critically. It would stand to reason that Egypt would be cautious about approaching groups until he was fully healed, or had the confidence that he could challenge them.

He hoped that Egypt's somewhat cautious nature wasn't part of the ruse.

He wondered which nations had already been collected by America. If they were lucky, then there was someone that neither America nor Egypt had reached yet, and if they played their cards right, then they could wait for Egypt in a new location without him knowing about it.

"Hey, Syria," Turkey called out. "You wouldn't happen to have an eagle or a falcon, would you?"

…

The guys at Andorra's house were all a little irked, mostly because all of the girls decided to be around Quebec practically the entire time. It was starting to wear on them.

"It's so unfair," Picardy muttered. "What does he have that we don't have?"

"A fan club, apparently," Andorra said.

"What the hell is Catalonia doing?" Basque demanded. "Whatever happened to 'keeping an eye on him' and 'can't be trusted'?"

"We really need to keep a closer eye on him," Faroe said.

"Hey, where are the Channel Islands?" Åland asked.

"They decided to keep to themselves," Andorra said. "So, any idea when the others would be coming?"

"It's going to take a while," Picardy said. "I got some other Japanese and Chinese territories. Hope you don't mind."

The statement had been directed towards Tokyo, who had been quiet this whole time. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I wouldn't mind," he said. "To be honest, I think I would have preferred to have more easterners here. But why the delay, and why did you only extend one to _me_ earlier?"

"Because I've met you before," Picardy said. "You and Osaka, though I doubted Osaka would want to come due to our… past interactions with each other."

"What do you mean?" Andorra asked.

Picardy shook his head, and Basque chuckled.

"Regardless, they should be coming soon, right?" Basque asked.

"Oui," Picardy said. "If luck is on their side."

"Let us all hope they have a safe voyage," Tokyo said.

…

Netherlands grunted as he was thrown to the ground. He opened his eyes wearily to see Japan looking at him with his head cocked to the side.

"Are you alright, Netherlands-san?" Japan asked.

"Give me a minute," Netherlands said. "The ground is very comfortable."

Somewhere in the corner Taiwan snickered, and Japan sighed.

"Do you require a break?" Japan asked.

"That would be nice," Netherlands said.

He had mostly been focused on learning jujitsu from Japan, but after a while he started to question the merit of it, not seeing how it could possibly be working. Which was why Japan had insisted on a demonstration, where Netherlands was the 'attacker'. At first he didn't feel up to it, but after the fifth time of being slammed to the ground, he had started taking things seriously.

Which made the twentieth time he was slammed to the ground even _more_ terrible.

"Why don't we try some tai-chi later?" Taiwan suggested.

"Is that going to hurt?" Netherlands asked.

"Not really," Thailand said. "For recreational purposes, tai-chi is slow and relaxing. For combat, you would need to speed it up."

"But doing it slowly would help you with your muscle memory," Singapore supplied.

The Asians had decided that watching Netherlands trying to learn martial arts was a great form of entertainment. Those who weren't actively practicing their own tended to watch the show.

They were isolated, and willing to take their entertainment wherever they could.

"I still can't believe that you're able to throw me to the ground like that," Netherlands said.

"You _do_ offer a great challenge," Japan said. "But if I could do the same with Russia, then that would be great. And you're taking this better than Brazil did."

"Brazil?"

"Hai. He asked me to teach him a few years ago. He was a very enthusiastic student."

Netherlands was quiet for a moment. Eventually he groaned, pushing himself upright.

"Alright," Netherlands said. "If Brazil could do it, then so can I."

Singapore glanced over towards Taiwan.

"This is going to be fun," she said.

…

Belarus watched in silence as North continued to work on his computer. He had been busy for a few hours now, and she waited patiently. It was obvious that it was important.

She looked up when the door opened, revealing South and Philippines. South looked towards his brother in curiosity.

"Did something happen?" South asked.

North nodded his head.

"Poland called Russia," North said. "He… managed to get me Russia's signal. But… Russia is trying to… hack into our… satellites."

North's speech was a little difficult, and it was clear that his tongue hadn't fully healed yet.

"What?!" Philippines exclaimed. "We have to stop him."

The others looked unbothered, and Philippines looked around in confusion and concern.

"What's the deal?" Philippines asked. "Why aren't you worried?"

"Because we anticipated it," Belarus said. "We knew that Russia would try something like this. And if he had the resources at the present time, then America would be trying this as well."

"And…"

"We have precautions in place," South said. "He can try all he wants, but he won't be able to track us. Or use our satellites. All that his efforts are amounting to are that _we_ can track _him_."

"Did you think that we could do all of this without anticipating what could go wrong?" Belarus asked.

Philippines's jaw dropped, and she glanced towards North.

"So… You _wanted_ him to try to track you?" Philippines asked.

North nodded his head.

"And… there… he is," North said.

…

Russia sighed in frustration. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't find a source location for the satellites. It would really help them to know where the satellites received their information from. Or if he could hijack the satellites, then he could make demands. Like ordering them to turn on all the other satellites, that _they_ had obviously hijacked.

He had of course tried the one that Poland had used to contact him, but that had been a dead end. He also wondered how it was possible that they could contact them in the first place.

He also tried to find out where the satellites were sending their signals. But so far, a lot of them pointed towards Amodi's African territories, and there was one pointing towards Bulgaria. But most of the others remained obscure. It was as though Amodi had anticipated that someone would try to track them, and were deliberately trying to direct the attention towards the territories that they had claimed. It was a sophisticated network, he had to admit.

If his satellites were working, he would have been able to send nukes towards them. But of course, he knew the risk. And if he tried to settle this war with nuclear weapons, he knew that the backlash wouldn't be favourable. In fact, there was a chance that he might be less popular for such a decision than even Amodi for starting this war.

After all, Amodi was _avoiding_ collateral damage. It was clever, and Russia was hating them more and more for it.

Besides, Amodi wasn't bothered by their lands being attacked. So unless they were in the blast zone, then sending any type of bomb to their land – nuclear or otherwise – would be a waste of time.

Unless he knew where their base of operations was. Then he would only have to hope that he got as many of them as possible.

…

Michoacán entered the main cabin, a letter in her hands.

"Turkey's group sent a message," she said. "He wants to know our course of action."

"Tell him Gaza and Palestine," America said. "Why?"

"He wants to set another trap for Egypt, and doesn't want to interfere with us."

"It makes sense," Jordan said. "Tell him to go for Lebanon. We'll leave her in his hands."

"Got it," Michoacán said.

Yemen glanced between Michoacán and Jordan and sighed, turning to America.

"You're right," Yemen said. "I guess those two _would_ get along great."

…

Brazil was lying on his bed, simply staring at the ceiling. He was waiting on Adamastor for news. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He wanted to be able to save South Africa.

He heard a knock on his door, and he turned his attention towards it with trepidation. The door opened, and he sighed in relief when he saw that it was Portugal at the door.

"Hey there," Portugal said. "Are you alright?"

"Sim," Brazil said. "I'm just resting."

Portugal walked into the room, before he sat down on the bed. Brazil scooted over slightly to give him room.

"Did something happen?" Portugal asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Brazil asked.

"It's just… I know you were upset about South Africa, but… I don't know. You seem… over it. And you've been more distracted, but… Not in the way of someone holding a broken heart. So… Care to tell me about it?"

Brazil was silent for a moment before he sighed.

"If you were offered a glimmer of hope," Brazil said, "would you take it?"

"Hope for what?" Portugal asked.

"Just… hope."

Portugal was silent for a moment before he nodded.

"I suppose I would," he said. "Anything that would get me out of here. Anything that would prove to me that my loved ones are safe. Anything that would make this nightmare end. I would accept it."

Brazil smiled.

"Then just know that I have found my hope," he said. "But… I'm sorry. I can't tell you what it is. I don't want _them_ to know. And I don't want them to take it away from me."

Portugal smiled.

"I understand," he said. "But promise me that your 'hope' wouldn't get you hurt."

"I can't," Brazil said. "There's a chance that something might happen, given who our enemies are. I know that I'm playing with fire and might get burned, but it all depends on how I approach it."

Portugal sighed.

"Just don't do anything _too_ dangerous," Portugal said. "And I hope you know what you're doing."

…

India had been listening to Brazil's conversation with Portugal, a frown on his face. What 'hope' could Brazil be talking about? Didn't he realise that there would be no point?

When he heard Portugal preparing to leave, he quickly walked away. He needed to keep an eye on Brazil. He needed to find out what Brazil's 'hope' entails. And he needed to crush it as soon as he figured out what it meant.

…

The girls had taken Quebec outside to bask in the sunlight, but now he was lying in his bed again, exhausted after spending so much time outside. His body was still getting used to everything.

The girls had left him alone so that he could rest peacefully, and he found the quiet and solitude a little strange. It wasn't like the loneliness after all the time he had spent as Canada's prisoner, but instead it was more comforting. He knew that there were people that cared about him within shouting distance, and once he was able to shout, it would certainly be the greatest comfort he'd ever experienced.

The door opened, and Quebec opened his eyes to see who it was, only for them to widen as he shot up into a seated position, backing up as much he could. Tokyo regarded him with some amusement.

"I see you still remember your position," Tokyo said. "But you're getting too close to those girls."

Quebec looked down, his entire body trembling. Tokyo closed the distance between them, and Quebec was painfully aware of the other's presence.

"What did you tell them?" Tokyo demanded.

"N-nothing," Quebec whispered.

Quebec gasped when Tokyo grabbed a fistful of his hair, and the Japanese inched closer.

"Tell me the truth," Tokyo said.

"Canada… imprisoned me," Quebec whispered. "I… escaped. C'est tout."

Tokyo narrowed his eyes as Quebec lightly coughed.

"Nothing about me?" Tokyo demanded.

Quebec shook his head, and Tokyo released his hair. The Canadian backed up as much as possible while the Japanese looked down on him.

"You better not interfere with my mission," Tokyo said. "Or you will learn how fun _torture_ can be."

Quebec flinched, and Tokyo left the room. As soon as he left, Quebec curled up into a ball and started to cry, knowing what fate most likely awaited the only people in his life to _ever_ show him kindness.

Because he knew that he couldn't defy Tokyo. Defying Tokyo would result in punishment from Canada, and he didn't want to experience that ever again.

…

Syria returned, carrying a letter. He looked towards Turkey and sighed.

"Michoacán replied," Syria said. "They have Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan with them, and are now going to retrieve Gaza and Palestine. If we want, we can go to Lebanon. Jordan had also informed them that Israel is on Amodi's side."

"Damn," Turkey muttered. "But at least we now have a plan of action. Come on. We're on our way to Lebanon."

Syria nodded his head, before he left the room. Once he was alone, he pumped his fist in happiness. At least he wouldn't be bored anymore.

…

"The first order of business," Liechtenstein said, "is the location of America's states. Well?"

"I know where each of them live," Puerto Rico said. "And I know the location of each of their bunkers."

"Perfect. Now, you said you'd be able to walk around there?"

"They would also let me into their homes, if I asked them."

"Great. Then that's what you'll do."

…

"Hey!" Catalonia exclaimed, struggling against Basque's grip on her arm. "I _can_ walk on my own, you know."

"I understand," Basque said. "I just don't want you running away."

Catalonia glared slightly as Basque pulled her inside his room. He released her, and she immediately moved towards the bed, sitting on it with her arms crossed.

"What is the deal with Quebec?" Basque demanded. "I thought he couldn't be trusted?"

"I don't _entirely_ trust him yet," she said. "But I don't think he'd be able to hurt us. He isn't physically capable of it, after all."

"And if he's a spy?"

"Then he has no way to reach anyone," Catalonia said. "He doesn't have anything on him, and the only means of contact are the Pierres, and unless they're being sent, the only one they let near them is Picardy."

"But it's still fishy," Basque said.

"I know," Catalonia sighed. "There's one thing that doesn't add up. He said that he escaped from captivity and that he had found his way on a plane. But… He can't walk more than a few steps without leaning against something, and he gets exhausted pretty fast. If his escape was recent, then we have a problem. If not, then it makes sense. If he had escaped a while back, then why didn't he try to find food? Unless…"

Basque was waiting patiently, and when she hesitated he raised an eyebrow.

"Unless?" he prompted.

"When he first came here, he seemed almost _afraid_ of eating," she said. "If he had tried to eat before coming here, then it made sense for him to be afraid, since he couldn't keep anything down."

"The coat he came in was also pretty clean. Where could he get that?"

"He didn't specify where his prison was. For all we know, it could have been Canada's basement, and he managed to swipe the coat."

Basque was silent for a moment before he nodded.

"You seem very defensive of him," he remarked.

Catalonia averted her eyes.

"When Madeira and I were sleeping next to him, we noticed how his body surrendered," she said. "How it _died_. But it's still one of the temporary deaths, and it wasn't enough to wake him. How many times has he gone through that? Given the state he's in, it's not surprising. I just… I _can't_ leave someone like that to suffer, you know?"

Basque sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said.

…

"I have to thank Italy later," Mexico said. "This is the best."

Mexico and Confederacy were relaxing on a Hawaiian beach, simply enjoying the sun.

"No wonder Americans consider this an ideal holiday destination," Confederacy said. "You know, this is my first time here."

"And your last."

The two were startled by the presence of someone else, and they turned to see a tanned woman – obviously a local – with dark red hair and red eyes. Even though the image of fire came to mind, her eyes were cold.

Mexico stood, aware of the threat.

"Do you have any idea who you're speaking to?" Mexico demanded.

"Two nations that have no right to be here," the stranger said.

" _Excuse_ me?" Confederacy demanded, standing as well. "This island, along with the other Hawaiian Islands, belong to Amodi. Who do you think you are?"

The stranger narrowed her eyes.

"My name is Pele."

 **The** _ **one**_ **Hawaiian goddess I'm aware of. Though here, she's not so much a goddess as a personification of Hawaii's volcanoes. And she's** _ **not**_ **happy about Hawaii being conquered by Amodi.**

 **During the scene with Portugal and Brazil, I'm sure it's pretty clear that I've been watching Dangan Ronpa.**

 **There were two times when my hostel arranged for self-defence classes. Both times, they were teaching us the basics of Brazilian jujitsu. The sensei even muttered that he would have to give us twelve years of training in one afternoon. The first time, I paired off with a friend, and we were among the only ones that took it seriously. Most of the others were too scared of hurting each other. Our arms were red afterwards, and she came pretty close to breaking one of mine. I also like to practice tai-chi sometimes.**

 **Also, I started posting Enough. Go check it out when you get the chance.**


	58. Chapter 57

**Thanks to Terra, shoujochan, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 57**

"My name is Pele."

At the mention of the name, Confederacy's eyes widened. She recognised the name, but she never thought that there was _actually_ such a person. And if it was the same one…

Mexico didn't have that same recognition, and only narrowed her eyes.

"The way you said it makes me think that it should mean something," Mexico said. "Too bad it failed. Now, who the hell are you?"

"Your little friend knows who I am," Pele said.

Mexico turned to Confederacy, an eyebrow quirked questioningly.

"You know?" she asked.

"If it's the same Pele," Confederacy said, taking a nervous step back, "then we're screwed."

"Who is she?"

"…The volcano goddess."

Mexico's eyes widened, and she turned back to Pele in alarm. The redhead smirked, before she snapped her fingers.

Immediately after that the ground started to rumble, and the two nations fell to the ground in surprise. They saw the ground beneath them start to crack, and they quickly scrambled away, seeing the lava through the cracks. Once the earth settled, they turned to Pele in alarm.

"As I said," Pele said, her face darkening, "you don't belong here."

…

Andorra opened the door, and at first he couldn't see anyone, at least until he heard a throat clear. He looked down and his eyes widened when he saw a little kid with ash-blond hair.

In fact, the hair looked to be the same shade as Russia's…

"You are Andorra, da?" the child asked.

"S-si," Andorra said. "Who are you?"

"Transnistria," the child said. "Picardy sent me a message, and since I don't know where Russia is, I decided to come here. Now, can I come in?"

Andorra nodded, and he quickly stepped aside. Transnistria pushed past him, and Andorra couldn't help but look back at him. Physically, he couldn't _possibly_ be older than six.

What was Picardy _thinking_?

Sighing, he closed the door. Well, he was one of them, and perhaps having a miniature Russia with them would work to their advantage.

…

Hungary and Greece were looking at Syria with disturbed expressions on their faces. Cyprus was in the passenger seat while Turkey was driving. So it was only the aforementioned two that noticed how Syria was acting, nestled between them as he was.

And the thing that disturbed them was the fact that he was nearly bursting with excitement. And to see _him_ like that was incredibly disturbing for them. And they were surprised that the other two hadn't noticed it.

"Uh oh," Cyprus said. "We've got company."

Syria followed the other's eyes, and immediately his bubble burst.

"Of all the times…" he muttered. "Can't they just take a hint?!"

Turkey stopped the car, turning to look at Hungary.

"Are you up for a round two?" he asked.

Hungary smirked, nodding. And as the two climbed out of the car…

The ones remaining in the car could hear a few screams and cries of alarm, before their 'guests' scattered. Greece arched an eyebrow.

"Huh," Greece said. "It seems that it's the same group we ran into earlier."

"They have a good memory," Cyprus commented.

Turkey and Hungary climbed back into the car, looks of disappointment on both of their faces. Syria looked between the two.

"Do I _want_ to know?" he asked.

"Allow me to sum it up," Hungary said. "They came, we were mad, we kicked ass."

Syria nodded his head, completely understanding what had happened. And wishing he had seen it.

…

"This is surprisingly pleasant," Kazakhstan commented.

Everyone, sans Russia, was gathered in what they had dubbed the common room. Vilnius, Czech, Slovakia and Georgia were playing poker, while the others were merely watching.

"Ha!" Slovakia exclaimed, putting his cards down for everyone to see. "Read them and weep."

Vilnius smiled sweetly, before revealing her own cards. Slovakia balked, while the other two folded.

"W-what?" Slovakia said. "H-how?"

She kept the smile on her face, dragging her winnings towards her. They didn't have much to bet with, except for cookies that Ukraine and Armenia had baked earlier. So now, _that_ was what they were using in place of chips.

"Is anyone else concerned by the fact that we're letting the child gamble?" Turkmenistan asked.

"I'm more concerned by the fact that the child is _winning_ ," Uzbekistan said. "Clearly, this isn't her first time."

Ukraine chuckled, before she frowned.

"Russia should be here too," she said.

…

"Aiyaa…" China groaned. "Looks like we would need to go get some ingredients."

He sighed in frustration. Although there were quite a few wild animals nearby, as well as some fruit trees, they couldn't live from that alone. There were a few fields that had been used for farming, but that had been _ages_ ago. There was no telling if the former fields were still fertile, not to mention the fact that they had nothing to plant…

He would need to get someone to accompany him to the nearest town in order to stock up on food.

Just as he thought that, he felt an intense pain in his chest. He cried out in pain, his legs giving in underneath him. He leaned against a counter, waiting for the pain to pass.

Of course, _now_ was when they decided to return to the conventional methods of war.

Someone ran inside the room, looking alarmed.

"China!" Thailand exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

"Beijing," China said. "It's being attacked."

Thailand's eyes widened, and another strike came, bringing with it another wave of pain. China couldn't support himself anymore and fell to the ground, and Thailand was immediately by his side.

"Come on," Thailand said. "We'll get you to a bed."

"Wait," China groaned. "Someone has to… buy some food."

He moaned in pain, and didn't protest when Thailand picked him up.

"That 'someone' isn't you," Thailand said. "I'll talk with the others. For now, you just rest, alright?"

China was already unconscious before he could even agree.

…

South smirked, as he seemingly played with his phone. They had installed bombs in several of China's cities ages ago, and now he was remotely activating them, one by one.

Since they didn't know where China was, it was time to do things the old-fashioned way.

"Yeah!" he whooped, pumping his fist. "Chain reaction! Bonus points!"

From nearby, Switzerland chuckled and shook his head fondly, while Philippines was looking at him as though he had lost his mind.

…

After giving Hout Bay a proper burial, Israel and White departed, going towards one of White's western homes. They had decided to leave the beaches and go a little more inland.

"Here we are," White said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

Israel followed her lead, and the two of them walked up to the front door. After unlocking it they went inside, and White led the way to the living room.

Israel froze when he heard a snarl, and he slowly turned to see a black and white creature. Even though they weren't native to his land, he knew what this was: a honey badger.

It lunged for him, and he jumped backwards, a look of alarm on his face. What was it doing there?

"Rascal!" White shouted. "David, cover your wickets!"

He was confused, at least until it lunged again, seemingly aiming for a certain area between his legs. He backed up until he fell against a couch, and the creature lunged once more.

Only for White to catch him, a look of annoyance on her face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked. "You don't attack him."

The honey badger continued to snarl, and she sighed. Israel noticed that it made no move to attack her, and he wondered if it was a pet of hers. He had heard that she and Black both had quite a few pets, and that perhaps they would give Australia a run for his money.

"I'm sorry about that," she said, before speaking to the creature. "You just earned a time-out."

He watched her carry the creature away, and he sagged in relief. That thing looked as though it had every intention of killing him. And where did it think it was aiming?!

She returned a few minutes later, looking haggard and surprisingly lacking a single scratch.

"Sorry about that," she said. "He gets like that a few times."

"It's no problem," he said. "But… why do you have something like that?"

"A lot of the girls south of the Sahara have one," she explained. "It's due to one of their preferred killing methods."

"And that would be…?"

"It involves castration. And thanks to the three-second thing in my country… You can understand why it's a good idea to have one, right?"

He had paled significantly, instinctively drawing his legs closer to his body.

"How'd you… acquire him?" Israel asked.

"It was back in my colonial days," she said. "I had gone out east and started to play with some of them. Black had come to me, looking for a fight, but… Let's just say, the moment he saw me with them, he wet himself. It took _ages_ before he stopped calling me a demon. He was definitely scared of them, so I kept a baby for myself. Years later I found out _why_ he was so scared. Keeps my houses safe, though. It's always fun to see would-be robbers running away in terror, even if they don't know about them. A lot of people know that you just _don't_ pick a fight with a ratel. Anything that can scare a lion is not worth having as your enemy."

Israel swallowed nervously.

"Is he _always_ like that with guests?" he asked.

"No, not always," she said. "He attacks Netherlands, England, Cuba, India, and occasionally Black. But he _loves_ cuddling up to Russia and Brazil, while he'll allow China to pet him."

"And… he'll stay out of the way now, right?"

"Who knows? Sometimes it takes days to escape his cage. Other times: minutes."

He chuckled nervously.

"Do you think we could go to one of your other homes?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "I could show you the white lions."

"Yeah… Can't wait. Hold on. You said 'houses'."

"Ja… Sometimes, he likes to wander between them."

…

Cameroon sighed, looking at the empty desk. Kokolo was brushing against his legs, the lion trying to comfort him in _some_ way. But it was all for nothing.

"Part of me is glad that we don't really have to do all that work anymore," Cameroon said. "While another part of me wishes for it. After all, I'm still a nation. Even if I'm no longer an independent one."

…

Romania jumped slightly when his phone rang. He quickly answered it, moving into another part of the house, where none of the prisoners were at the moment.

"Da?" he prompted.

"Romania, it's me."

"Tokyo…"

"Listen, I don't have much time. If they find me on the phone, I'll be in serious trouble."

"Then stop _wasting_ time," Romania snapped.

"H-hai. Transnistria is here."

Romania closed his eyes, feeling his anger spiking for a brief moment.

"Thank you for telling me," he said, before hanging up the phone. "I should have gone hunting when I had the chance."

He wondered if he should say anything about Transnistria to Moldova. After all, Transnistria was _technically_ their little brother, though Romania didn't acknowledge him as such. To him, he was nothing more than a miniature Russia. A bully to Moldova. And poor Moldova would bend over backwards in order to keep Transnistria happy.

Romania shook his head. No, it would be better if nothing regarding Transnistria reached Moldova's ears. He hadn't asked yet, so he wasn't thinking about it, and Romania wouldn't bring it up. He also wouldn't worry his brother for trivial reasons. And Transnistria was as trivial as trivial could be, at least as far as Romania was concerned.

But news about Transnistria had definitely done its job in upsetting him. He could feel the itch, and he needed to torture/kill something. And unfortunately, the only ones nearby were out of the question, and he didn't think Finland would appreciate it if he started mowing down his lover's people.

"Come back soon, Tino," Romania whispered.

…

Ukraine slowly approached Russia, seeing him hard at work. He was doing so much to protect them…

"Ivan," Ukraine said, "it's no use. You need to take a break. Come join us."

"I can't," Russia said. "I'll find them. I'll find them, and strike them before _they_ can strike _us._ "

Ukraine pursed her lips, not about to argue. Instead, she stared at the screen, where she saw something a bit… unusual.

"Ivan, what _exactly_ are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm tracking their satellites," he explained. "Trying to find one that _doesn't_ lead to a dead-end or to a nation they conquered."

"And… how'd you gain access?"

"Poland called me, using one of their satellites. When I noticed some activity, I immediately took advantage of it."

Ukraine stared at the screen again, a frown on her face.

"Ivan, why did Poland call?" she asked.

"He was bragging that he was torturing Mongolia," Russia said offhandedly. "I can't say I blame him, and that I didn't feel happy."

Ukraine looked at the screen again, and she saw something that made her eyes widen.

"Russia, stop that now!" she exclaimed.

Russia jumped, clearly startled by her exclamation, and turned to face her.

"Ukraine, what's wrong?" he asked.

"They're tracking you!"

He turned to the screen, and his eyes widened when he saw what she had seen. Immediately, he shut everything off, his expression twisted in panic.

"Thank you," Russia said. "If you hadn't seen that… if I had continued what I was doing…"

"You were so desperate to help," she said. "You wanted to put a stop to this war as soon as possible, didn't you?"

"Da."

"And what were you going to do once you found them?"

Russia bit his lip.

"Strike first," he said. "It's the only way."

She sighed.

"Did you want to avoid collateral damage?" she asked.

"…Da," he sighed. "I don't want anyone to think of me as a monster anymore. I don't want to go through that again."

She smiled softly at the vulnerability her brother displayed, and hugged him in sympathy. He returned the hug, and it was clear that he needed it. Now, more than ever.

"Come," she said. "Let's join the others."

"…Is everyone having fun?" he asked.

"I… yes…"

"Then they wouldn't want me there to spoil it for them. It's nice that they're enjoying themselves. Makes this place warmer, da?"

Ukraine stared at Russia for a moment before she sighed.

"You want everyone to trust you, right?" she asked.

"Da. Of course."

"Then _show_ them that you mean no harm. _Show_ them that you're on their side. If you stay isolated… it might create the wrong idea. They will try to avoid you, because they aren't sure where you stand."

Russia was silent for a moment.

"At the very least, Vilnius will be happy to see you," Ukraine said.

Russia nodded, before he turned to the blank screen. He frowned.

"If they _were_ tracking us," he said, "then we would need to notify the others."

Ukraine nodded her head.

"You said that this is the safest base you have, right?" she asked.

"Da."

"Then we stay here. I've seen the exterior. It's hard to suspect it of anything when you first see it."

"That was the idea. But who knows what Amodi had been up to? They might have something similar, and would immediately know what to look for."

"Are there any fortifications?"

"Da. Of course."

"Then use as many of them as possible. The world needs as many strong nations fighting in this war as possible. And we've lost England, France and Germany. It's up to you, America, and China."

"And let's not forget about…"

Russia trailed off, his eyes widening in revelation. Then, he grinned.

"Why don't you go join the others?" Russia suggested. "I have something to discuss with General Winter."

Ukraine was both curious and worried, but she nodded her head nevertheless. She left the room, wondering what Russia had in mind.

…

North sighed, staring at the screen. Russia had ceased his actions, which was a little odd.

Oh well. They had already managed to pinpoint Russia's location, and Antarctica would be there to greet him soon enough.

…

Portugal had returned to the lounge area, and he was currently nestled between Mozambique and Angola. The two Africans had been prisoners longer than he had, and he was trying to give them as much comfort as he could.

He suddenly felt extremely dizzy, and he gasped in shock. The two former colonies looked at him in worry.

"What's wrong?" Mozambique asked.

"I just got dizzy," he said. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Um…" Angola said, lifting Portugal's right arm.

He looked at his arm, or more specifically his hand, and the red thread tied around it. There were two threads trailing away, and one of them had a slight glow. As though the one it was connected to was in danger.

Realising that, he started to get worried for the two that the threads were supposedly connected to, and he wondered which one of them was in trouble.

'Netherlands, China… be safe,' he thought.

…

All of the Asians and Netherlands were gathered in China's room. He had lost consciousness, and his face was flushed with fever. Every now and again he would curl up slightly, whimpering in pain. Another bomb going off.

"I thought they didn't fight like this," Taiwan said.

"They are dishonourable," Japan said. "It's only natural that they should change their own rules when they feel like it."

"Did they _say_ it was their rules?" Netherlands asked.

The others all turned to him, prompting him to continue.

"The way I see it, they go for the nations themselves because it's easier," Netherlands said. "The people's will is the will of the nation, but it's also the other way. The people are easier to convince if their nation has already agreed. And if they _don't_ have a nation anymore, then the people would merge with the new order a lot more effortlessly."

"In other words," Vietnam said, "they were using their previous method because it was easier."

"But now they're doing it the same way we have for ages," Japan said. "Is it because…?"

"They don't know where to find us," Singapore supplied.

"That sounds plausible," Netherlands said.

They turned their attentions to China once again.

"If they're attacking Teacher like this," Taiwan said, "then will they to the same to us?"

"My guess is," Vietnam said, "yes."

 **Transnistria pretty much asked to be here. I was doing some research on Moldova for one of my other stories when I saw information on Transnistria. Then a few minutes later I was watching a video about 'countries you didn't know existed' on YouTube when Transnistria popped up again. I figured I'd add him, since it's a too much of a coincidence.**

 **The honey badger, also called the ratel. It's the Afrikaans word, btw, but acknowledged in English as well, and Zoo Tycoon uses the term 'ratel' as well, and it's easier to write, so in the rest of the explanation, I will use the word 'ratel'. I haven't played Far Cry, but I know the memes. And I've actually seen a ratel before, at Moholoholo, which is a wildlife rehabilitation centre. Anyway, that particular ratel, known as Stoffel, is legendary for its habit of escaping. Search on YouTube for the video 'Honey Badger Houdini'. Anyway, one of the things the keeper mentioned was that, since they aren't good jumpers, when confronted with larger prey, they will aim for what they can reach. Let that sink in for a while. It was also explained that every time Stoffel escaped, the men were sent to his enclosure while the women went to find him, since the enclosure was the only safe place at that time. He also told us that one time Stoffel ended up in the lion enclosure, and painted a picture of this 200+ kg lion running away from that little ratel. They figured he was a little frustrated, and got a female ratel. He climbed on top of her and used her as a stepping stone in order to escape. Add the fact that their skin is rubbery and hard, not to mention loose, making it hard to get a grip, and their skin can even shield them from a machete strike. And if you have a grip on them, they will be able to turn around to continue their attack, and if a puff adder, for example, manages to bite one, it will only pass out for a few hours. One of the memes I saw was that the honey badger is the Chuck Norris of the animal kingdom.**

 **Both South Africas have a lot of pets as a reference to the Kruger National Park, and other preservation and rehabilitation sites. At Moholoholo, for example, there is an area filled with enclosures of mostly injured or sick animals, and then there's an area where you can go for a jeep ride, and even sleep under the stars among the animals. Though they recommend you do the last one in a group, and that the group has someone to keep watch, since you could still get attacked. I was on a school trip there, and the athletes decided they wanted to stay fit so they went for a jog, though the jog quickly turned into a run when a rhino started chasing them. Speaking of, I actually managed to pet one. And at Spier, there's a cheetah sanctuary and, for a price, you can go pet the cheetahs. Been there, done that as well. Then I know about one that boasts white lions.**

 **The three-second thing is that statistically, a woman is raped in South Africa every three seconds. Can you blame White for keeping a pet that would castrate someone?**

 **The fact that her ratel attacked Israel is actually significant, as well as her mentioning that it cuddles up to Brazil. It also attacked India, who is on Amodi's side. And here's the lesson: always trust an animal's judge of character.**

 **And I can just imagine Black calling White at 1 a.m. to tell her to come fetch her pet while he's hiding in the bedroom or something.**


	59. Chapter 58

**Thanks to FairEnough, Terra, TooShyToReview, ScandinavianTrash and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 58**

Everyone had relocated to the main room, feeling that it would be better to leave China alone to recuperate. They were all worried, though each of them was trying their hardest to hide it. Netherlands, Vietnam and Japan were the champions in the 'hiding-your-emotion' department, though there were little hints that Japan and Vietnam, at the very least, were worried about China.

"We need to figure out what we're going to do," Vietnam said.

"China said that someone needs to go buy some food, right before he passed out," Thailand said. "So I think we should do that."

"That's at least an idea," Singapore said. "So, who's going?"

"I think you and I should go," Taiwan said. "We'd at least be able to communicate with the humans."

"Good," Japan said. "And in the meantime, we will keep an eye on China. See if he receives any more attacks."

"And _you_ should all be careful as well," Netherlands said. "We all know that Amodi is random in their attacks. They might have attacked purely for the sake of weakening him, and perhaps prompting him into a counterattack. For all we know, they'll attack one of you next."

"And what about you?" Taiwan asked. "Aren't you worried about attack?"

"I think they have a different strategy in mind for me," Netherlands said. "After all, they have my entire family. If they're playing collector, then I think they want me alive."

Japan brought his hand to his chin, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.

"Something on your mind?" Thailand asked, and Japan nodded.

"Netherlands-san," Japan said, "what exactly did France say was the reason you had to come here?"

"He said it was about the Bonds," Netherlands said. "Because China and I are both connected to Portugal with similar Bonds as Amodi. Because North Korea showed interest in it, he figured that they would want to take advantage of it. They would either try to add it to their own, or they would try to break them. And because China and I are… rivals, France figured that having us 'resolve our issues' would make the Bond stronger."

"I see… Then, perhaps they are trying to ensure that only one of you are connected with the Bond. And because of the Koreas' grudge, they decided that the one they would rather have alive would be you."

"Nothing about this sounds good," Taiwan said, pouting. "I mean, I think that having a love triangle is sweet, and to have the love rivals having to learn how to get along is cute, but how does it help _us_?"

"We don't know much of the Bonds," Vietnam said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish that France was here. At least _he_ knew _something_ about them."

"Perhaps there is a way to find out," Japan said.

"How?" Thailand asked. "Because everyone that knows is dead, captured or the enemy."

"During World War Two, when Germany, Italy and I were trapped on that island, we would often be attacked by the Allies. But every time, something would happen, and the Allies would flee. We only later discovered that it was the ghost of the Roman Empire. Now, if _he_ could come to our world to interfere, even though he's dead, couldn't any of the others?"

"You _might_ have a point," Netherlands said. "However, how are we supposed to get someone like that?"

Everyone was silent, trying to think of an answer.

"Ouija?" Thailand suggested with a sheepish smile.

"It might actually resort to that," Vietnam said. "I hope it doesn't."

"Perhaps China would know," Singapore suggested. "We'll ask him when he wakes up."

Everyone nodded in agreement. And a few seconds after deciding that, they felt a chill in the air. Each of them wrapped their arms around themselves, confused about the reason for the chill.

"You are all so lively, da?"

They turned to the direction of the voice, seeing a man that none of them recognised. Immediately they were on their guard, all of them jumping into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" Japan demanded, hand drifting to his katana.

"You need not fear me," the stranger said. "I am Russia's teacher."

"I thought you said we didn't have to be scared," Taiwan said wryly.

The stranger ignored him and turned to Japan.

"Russia wanted me to bring you for a meeting," the stranger said. "I believe he has an idea to gain an advantage in this war."

Japan arched an eyebrow, while Taiwan clung to him. Japan took a step back, looking a little flustered.

"Don't go with him!" Taiwan exclaimed. "It's a trap!"

"I don't think so," Netherlands said. "After all, Russia is an ally. And I think I've heard of you before, General Winter."

The General nodded his head, waiting patiently for Japan. Finally he sighed, pulling away from Taiwan and walking towards him.

"If it's to give us an advantage in the war," Japan said, "then I am willing to listen to what Russia has to say."

The General nodded his head, and when Japan was close enough there was a whirlwind of snow wrapping around the two, until it became impossible to see the two encompassed by the whirlwind. Once it faded, however, no sign of them could be found.

Vietnam sighed, before glancing to a worried Taiwan.

"I guess all we can do now is wait," she said. "But I hope Russia _does_ have an idea. We need to put a stop to this war, before we're all dead."

"Did you have to say it like that?" Thailand asked dryly.

…

Finland smiled happily, pleased to be home. As soon as the meeting had finished, he had taken the first flight back to his nation, eager to return to Romania as soon as possible. He had good news for his lover, and didn't want to have to wait _too_ long in sharing it with him.

He saw the prisoners in front of the TV, as usual. There wasn't much for them to do and it kept them out of trouble, so he didn't complain. And Norway still looked miserable, so there was nothing for him to worry about.

He found Romania in their room, simply staring at the ceiling. He sighed, knowing that his lover was bored. But that would change soon enough.

It also would seem as though Romania hadn't noticed him yet, and that thought brought a smile on his face.

"What did Italy want?" Romania asked.

Finland's smile faded. So, Romania _had_ noticed him. That was slightly disappointing.

"The most important thing to focus on is the regions and territories deciding that they want to rebel," Finland said. "We're supposed to leave the majority of them alone, or at least the ones confirmed to have received an invitation. Doing anything else would compromise our spy's position."

"Great," Romania said sarcastically. "So I know where Transnistria is, but I'm not allowed to do anything about it."

Finland winced, knowing how Romania felt about Transnistria.

"Well, I've got good news for _you_ ," Finland said. "Italy gave you permission to play a little."

Romania sat up on the bed, his curiosity piqued. Finland smiled at the almost innocent curiosity with which the other was looking at him now.

"Did he say _who_ I'd be playing with?" Romania asked.

Finland nodded his head, and told him. Romania's face split into a grin.

"You're free to start whenever you want," Finland said.

"So, what you're telling me is that I can leave as soon as I want," Romania said. "But you just got here, and now you want _me_ to leave?"

"I know how bored you are," Finland said. "I just want you to have some fun."

"Oh, I can think of other things to do for fun. Come here."

Finland smirked, obeying his lover.

…

It was disorienting. Confusing. And then everything came back into focus.

Japan hissed, feeling a headache coming along due to the dizzying nature of the trip to what he assumed was Russia's base of operations.

A place that he never thought he would _willingly_ go to.

He eyed the computer against the wall. He could clearly see that it was a sophisticated piece of technology. And he figured that he wouldn't mind working on that for a while. And he hoped that he would get the chance to work with something like that again.

"Ah, privet Japan," Russia greeted, and Japan's attention was drawn to him. "I'm so happy that you could make it."

"What is it that you want, Russia?" Japan asked.

"World War Two," Russia said. "The two of us never signed a treaty after that, did we?"

"No, we didn't," Japan said. "Technically speaking, we're still at war with each other. Which is why I don't appreciate being brought here."

"But that works to our advantage. You are a fellow G8 nation. You at least have the strength to back it up. Technology. Military. I want to negotiate peace."

"That… is not what I expected. Why do you suddenly wish it?"

"Because two nations that had been at war, uniting to stop a common enemy… It works against the order of the world. And it would sway the balance, hopefully in our favour. Imagine how it might be."

"I don't see it."

Russia sighed.

"Neither of us have hurt each other in recent years because of the 'war'," Russia explained. "Not too much, at least. But according to whatever higher power oversees the nations, we're in conflict with each other. Nations naturally gain a little strength after a war, regardless of the victor, in order to be strong for the reparations. Since we need not worry about reparations, we may focus our energy – and our new strength – on defeating our common enemy."

Japan was silent for a moment.

"So, you want me to sign a peace treaty with you?" he asked for clarification.

"Da," Russia said. "And form an alliance."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we lose an advantage over our enemies, and they might come after one of _us_ next."

Japan bit his lip, his thoughts drifting to China. Finally he nodded.

"I see your point," Japan said. "I'll… form an alliance with you. It's better than sitting around and doing nothing, at least."

Russia beamed.

"I'm glad to hear that," Russia said. "It's a good thing I've already had all the necessary forms printed, da?"

…

"Alright," America said. "Here we go."

They had arrived at the Gaza strip, and it was clear that the personification had been searched for, judging by the evidence of carnage. Blood stained the sand, and they could only imagine how much worse it could have been.

At least there were still enough people around to clear up the bodies.

"D-do you think h-he's d-dead?" Qatar asked.

"We can't say yet," Yemen said. "Not until we've found the body."

"Please don't say it like that," Bahrain said dryly.

"You know him better than we do," Michoacán said. "Where would he be?"

"I wouldn't be too worried about it," Oman said. "He's pretty curious. He would probably have noticed us landing, and would come to see what's up. He'll come to _us_."

"That doesn't seem very smart."

"He's as curious as he is cautious. He'll come to us, but we wouldn't know that for quite a while."

"It should work in our advantage to have America with us," Jordan said. "More than likely, he would know that America is against Amodi. So just seeing him would be enough to convince him that we're not his enemy."

"Are we going to be safe, though?" Kuwait asked. "If even the airport is like this…"

"We'll just keep an eye out for any threats," Michoacán said. "But it would seem as though this place is abandoned. No planes passing lately."

"Which means that if he saw the plane flying low, preparing to land, then his curiosity would draw him to us," Jordan said.

"And what about humans?" Bahrain asked.

"I don't think they'll be a problem," America said. "You see this? They'll be hesitant and scared. If we do nothing, they'll realise we're not a threat, but they'll still stay away."

Some of the others looked at America oddly. Jordan turned to Kuwait.

"You're still not feeling well?" she asked.

Kuwait shook his head.

"Get back in the plane, and get some sleep," she said.

He nodded his head, before disappearing. The rest of them remained outside, in the shadow of the plane, while their pilot and co-pilot were searching for fuel and supplies.

"Hey, America?" Yemen said. "Why don't we ever see or hear from your pilots?"

"Yeah," Oman said. "Wouldn't they get a little frustrated by all of the stops we're making?"

"They know what we are," America said. "They know what we're doing. And they won't interfere."

"When do they _sleep_?" Bahrain asked.

"They take turns," America said. "While one's flying, the other one's sleeping."

"They must really like you to be willing to do this," Bahrain said.

"Sure," America said. "Americans are very patriotic. They'd jump at any chance to serve their nation. And sometimes that means doing what I want. But the less ridiculous the job, the more willing they are."

"The people who work for me are the same way," Michoacán said. "They'd do anything for their boss."

"'Boss'?" Jordan repeated.

"She runs a cartel," America explained, giving Michoacán a slight glare. "Can't say I approve."

"But criminals are more organised than a government," Jordan pointed out. "So, maybe this is a _good_ thing."

" _Thank_ _you_ ," Michoacán said. "Another reason why they exist is because their presence annoyed Mexico."

"I guess that's a good thing," America muttered.

Yemen smiled softly, before he turned to look at something that had caught his eye. Movement. His smile had fallen for a moment, but it had returned soon enough.

"It would seem that a cat's curiosity wouldn't kill it this time," Yemen said.

Everyone turned to him in confusion, until they noticed that he was looking at something. They turned their attentions in that direction, where they could see a shadow behind a wall.

"Should s-someone go t-to fetch h-him?" Qatar asked.

"No," Jordan said. "After what seems to have happened here, he'd be on his nerves. Going after him would make him run away."

"She's right," Oman said. "All we can do is wait."

"At least we know that he's alive," Bahrain said.

They waited for a few more minutes, until finally the owner of the shadow stepped out from behind the building he was hiding behind. He only looked to be in his teens. He approached them cautiously, his eyes mostly focused on America, but every now and again they would flicker to one of the others. He finally stopped a few metres away from them; close enough to speak to them, but far enough away so that, at the first sign of trouble, he could run away.

"Yo, what took you so long?" America asked amicably, a friendly smile on his face.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Gaza asked.

"We're here to take you to a safe place," Jordan said. "What happened here?"

Gaza grimaced, before looking around.

"Israel was looking for me," Gaza said. "He sent his army, and they… they tore my country apart. They wiped out about half of my population in less than a week."

"That's horrible," America said, his smile fading and his eyes widening. "So, he really _is_ with them?"

Gaza nodded his head, before his eyes flitted over the group again.

"Where's my sister?" he asked.

"We're going to get her right after this," Jordan said. "Do you know where she'd be?"

He swallowed before he nodded.

"I have an idea where she may be," Gaza said.

"Then hop aboard," America said.

Gaza hesitated, looking at the plane.

"Is anyone else on there?" he asked.

"Kuwait," Bahrain said. "He's sick, so he's sleeping it off."

"You have n-nothing to w-worry about," Qatar said gently.

Gaza looked around again before he nodded, and he followed them on board the plane.

Now they just needed to wait for the pilots to return.

…

"There," Japan said. "Everything's settled."

Russia nodded his head, smile in place.

"Good," he said. "Let us hope that we gain an advantage now."

…

North Korea shuddered. Something was not right. It was as though enemies had suddenly become friends.

But _who_?

…

Afghanistan was in her home, examining a few maps. She needed to be prepared for anything.

She heard a knock on her door and tensed. Carefully, she removed a pistol before creeping towards the door.

"It's me. Open up."

She relaxed, putting her weapon away. She walked the rest of the way to the door and opened it, revealing Pakistan on the other side.

"You're late," she said.

"Sorry about that," he said, stepping past her. "Switzerland and South Korea had been spotted in my country. I needed to make sure that they were gone, and that there aren't any others still there."

"Do you think they were there to kill you?" she asked.

"I'm almost certain of it. Though I'm surprised it wasn't India they sent. Either he's busy with something else, or I'm not worth his time."

"Let's hope we don't find out," she said, before leading the way to her living room.

He eyed the maps, but didn't comment. Instead he sat down on the armchair and started to sift through them.

"You ready to join the war?" he asked.

"Not really," she said. "I'm just preparing in case I _do_ get sucked in."

"Then why call me here?"

"An alliance. One can never have too many friends. I also need to know that I can count on someone to not leave me out to dry. Have you noticed something about this area?"

He nodded his head.

"It feels lonely," he said. "What happened to your neighbours?"

"Asides from you?" she asked. "Iran's Amodi territory now, and based on the reports of a large number of his people dying, I don't think there's a choice left. As for Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan… It doesn't seem as though they've been killed, so maybe captured? Or they may be in hiding. But their countries are being fortified."

Pakistan nodded his head in understanding.

"I only wish there's a way for us to learn more."

 **The issue of America's pilots had been bothering me, so I decided to clear that up, in case anyone's wondering.**


	60. Chapter 59

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, Kattie, shoujochan, Terra, ElliGordon, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and KathWood67 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 59**

"So, can you tell me what you've been up to lately?" Japan asked. "Since we're allies now, I feel that I have a right to know."

Russia nodded his head, smile in place.

"Of course, comrade," Russia said. "I've been attempting to find a satellite that works, or one of their satellites. So far, I've had no success. The closest I came was a trap. If Ukraine didn't notice it in time…"

Japan frowned.

"How are you sure that it _was_ in time?" Japan asked.

"I'm not," Russia said. "I just hope."

Japan nodded his head in understanding, before he turned thoughtful.

"The satellites…" he mused. "What exactly is wrong with them?"

Russia looked surprised.

"No one is able to communicate with each other," Russia said.

"Oh," Japan said. "We're quite isolated at present, so I hadn't noticed. China has a satellite phone, though I noticed that he hadn't used it in a while. Then there was that eagle that America sent…"

"If you're isolated, then I guess it can't be helped."

"Have you tried sending up new satellites?"

Russia was silent, cocking his head to the side. It was a prompt for Japan to continue.

"I assume that they had seized control of every satellite we've launched," Japan said. "They could have used their own satellites to see that there's a new satellite. Which nation it originated from. What its purpose is. But what if new ones are launched? Ones with a protocol that prevents any interference."

"A satellite that uses their own signal to protect itself," Russia mused. "Brilliant, comrade. I'm sure I can do that."

Japan gave a small smile. Times like this made the Cold War worth it all. Both Russia and America had skills with technology. Especially if space was involved. And fortunately, that was the destination of each satellite.

"If you require my assistance, I'd be more than willing to help," Japan said.

"Perhaps you can make it so that we can get all of our allies?" Russia suggested. "It would make it easier to get new allies as well."

"Hai. I think that would be wiser. We don't want to alert them about our new satellites, at least not too soon. They'd surely notice it before too long."

"Do you need to get back right now?" Russia asked.

"Well, China is unconscious at the moment. If he wakes up and I'm not there, he might start to panic. I do not wish that to happen. Especially since none of the others know what's going on."

"Very well. Then General Winter will take you back. As soon as I've completed the schematics, I will call for you. And maybe you could ask China for some suggestions as well?"

"That seems like a good idea. Anything to gain an advantage."

"Da. Anything to prevent more death."

…

Norway had wandered off from the others. He needed a little space.

Though he was touched by their efforts to make him feel better, none of them could understand how it felt. The only person who would understand was Prussia, and according to Finland, he had been killed.

He still couldn't wrap his head around Finland and Romania. He had never seen them interact with each other much before this all started. They were only polite. He wondered if they were really that skilled at deception, or if he was just blind.

Well, he _had_ to be. He had considered them both to be his friends, and he had been betrayed by them. He couldn't stand to be in the same room as them, especially Finland.

Though he was touched that Iceland had asked Finland to keep him alive, his current fate was worse than death. He had lost his people. He had been forced to watch his royal family be killed. On _television_. He wasn't even allowed to be there personally.

He had lost friends. Denmark, Sweden… Romania and Finland… And apparently England as well. Norway was losing a lot, and he wasn't allowed to join them.

Though he had thought of it.

He no longer had a nation's immortality. It would be easy. There were only three things that stopped him.

Iceland, Bulgaria and Moldova.

He couldn't leave them alone with those two. Though they were quite skilled at hiding it, Norway could clearly see that they were mentally unstable. If something happened to completely rip off their masks, then it would be far too dangerous. They had already showed their sadistic sides. What would happen if they couldn't control themselves?

He knew that there wasn't much that he could do in such an event, but he didn't want to abandon them. He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He felt a weight on his shoulder and turned. He couldn't see anything, and he gritted his teeth. His magic was also drained. Sometimes he would get a flicker, but most of the times there was nothing.

He couldn't even see his fairies anymore. He knew they were worried about him, but he couldn't answer them. He wouldn't know the questions, and he wouldn't even know if they were there or not.

The tears came unbidden, but he could no longer stop them.

…

"Here we are," Turkey said as he pulled up the handbrake. "Lebanon's house."

"I don't like this," Greece said, looking out the window.

"He's right," Syria said, no longer looking very excited. "Something's wrong."

Turkey gritted his teeth, before he launched himself from the car. The others followed after him, a growing sense of dread in each of them. Turkey didn't even bother knocking, immediately breaking the door down, before pausing in the entrance. He held up a hand to the others, listening intently.

A scream was heard from deeper within the house, and the five ran towards the origin of the sound, their weapons drawn. And once they reached it, they paused in shock.

Egypt was looming over a prone Lebanon, lying in a pool of her blood. Her sleeves were bloody, and blood stained both pantlegs as well. She also looked extremely pale. And standing nearby was Canada, who brought out a knife as soon as he noticed them.

"Looks like we have company," Canada said, not taking his eyes off them. "How annoying."

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Hungary demanded.

"What does it look like?" Egypt asked, looking at Lebanon, who whimpered in fear.

"Leave her alone," Turkey said.

"And why should we?" Canada asked. "Just because you asked us to?"

"Thanks to America's interference," Egypt said, "I'm seriously behind in wiping out everyone in this part of the world."

"And Israel?" Cyprus asked. "America told us that he's part of your group now?"

"How'd _he_ manage to figure it out?" Canada asked. "And how'd he even manage to send the message?"

"Don't know about the first one," Turkey said, "and don't care about the second one."

The other two narrowed their eyes. Cyprus shifted his stance somewhat, and Egypt revealed his own knife, which earned another whimper from Lebanon.

"No one move," Egypt said. "I know why you're here. You want to _save_ her. Would be counterproductive, wouldn't you say?"

"But you're going to kill her anyway," Greece said.

Egypt smiled.

"It can be postponed," Egypt said.

Turkey's eyes narrowed.

"What are you playing at?" he asked.

"We can negotiate," Canada continued.

"There are two of you that _I_ don't have a problem with," Egypt said. "But someone else has a problem with one of _them_ , so there's _one_ that we don't have a problem with."

"And that would be?" Turkey asked.

Egypt glanced towards Greece and smirked.

"How about a little trade?" Egypt asked. "Greece, in exchange for Lebanon. She'll stay alive, _this_ time. _Next_ time, however…"

"You'd finish what you started," Cyprus said. "And you'd add us to the mix as well, if given the opportunity."

Turkey narrowed his eyes, which were trained on Egypt. He was reminded of the fact that Egypt had been grievously injured. If he was human, it would have been a fatal wound. Perhaps that was why Egypt was being cautious. And why he had Canada with him.

In fact, the way Canada was hovering suggested that he was protecting Egypt. His stance was ready, and if they were to launch an attack, Canada would react immediately. Which meant that they wanted to _avoid_ a confrontation, if possible. They were alright with torturing and killing a single person, but they would have to change plans regarding a group.

But now Turkey would have to make a choice.

"You're insane," Greece whispered, and it was clear that the idea of being their prisoner didn't appeal to him.

They had said that no one among them had a dislike for Greece. They had clearly mentioned that one of them was disliked by another member of Amodi, but no one had any problem with Greece. That meant that if he was taken, then he would either not be killed, or his death would at least be merciful. And seeing Lebanon on the ground, he was convinced that it would be best.

"Fine," Turkey said. "Deal."

"What?!" Greece and Cyprus asked, horrified.

Hungary was also looking at Turkey in horror, while Syria looked contemplative.

"What the hell, bastard?!" Greece demanded, moving so that he was in Turkey's face.

"On one condition," Turkey said. "You don't kill him."

"Wasn't planning to," Canada said nonchalantly.

Greece's eyes flickered towards them for a moment before focusing on Turkey again. Turkey grabbed his shirt and dragged him closer, leaning even closer in order to whisper in his ear.

"Listen up, brat," Turkey said. "Would you be willing to live with yourself if you let them kill her?"

Greece shook his head.

"They don't want to kill you," Turkey continued. "They want to keep you prisoner. Wait it out, until we can find a way to stop this. It's better than being dead, don't you think?"

Greece swallowed, then sighed. Turkey released his shirt and Greece turned to Canada and Egypt.

"Fine," he said, taking a step closer.

Egypt smiled, before he stood. He stepped away from Lebanon as Greece stepped closer, though the latter hesitated halfway into the room.

"Good enough," Egypt said, before he snapped his fingers.

Egypt, Canada and Greece disappeared, and Hungary immediately ran towards Lebanon to see if she was okay.

"Why did you to that?" Cyprus demanded.

"It was easier," Syria answered for Turkey. "They were improvising. They didn't want to fight. I think it's because Egypt was injured recently."

"I think so too," Turkey said. "They have no intention of killing him. And they don't have any plans."

"We can't know that," Hungary interrupted. "We don't know if they _do_ have a plan for him. They might have improvised the trade, but it doesn't mean that they didn't plan to take him. They might simply have seized the opportunity."

Turkey's jaw clenched as he thought of her words. He hated to admit it, but she had a valid point. They _didn't_ know if they had prior plans for Greece. Which meant that there was a possibility that Turkey had just sent him to a horrible fate.

…

Italy looked up when there were suddenly three figures in his office. Canada quickly grabbed Greece, who was looking around warily.

"I thought the two of you went over to Lebanon?" Italy asked.

"Change of plans," Canada said. "Turkey's group arrived. We didn't exactly bring firearms with us, so fighting at close courters was the only option, and we were outnumbered."

Italy pursed his lips. He knew that they could easily outmatch the others, in spite of being outnumbered, but he knew that with Egypt's recent injury, they were being very cautious. So he was going to be quiet about that. Instead, he decided to enquire about another matter.

"And what about Greece?" Italy asked.

The way Greece glanced towards Egypt implied that he wanted to know the same thing, but was keeping quiet.

"I just figured, since we have a room we've prepared but never used, we could change that," Canada said.

"Which room?" Italy asked. "There are a few rooms in a few homes that no one's used yet. Romania was quite happy with his torture chamber, though."

Greece seemed to pale, but wisely kept quiet.

"We're referring to the Washroom in my Newfoundland home," Canada said.

Italy smirked when he realised what the other implied.

"Yes," he said. "We haven't had a chance to use it yet. We really should. While we still have enemies that we can capture."

Greece looked nervous, and Italy's smirk widened. Yes, it _would_ be fun to use the Washroom. He found himself curious of the results.

"Then get to it," Italy said.

"W-wait," Greece said. "W-what's the 'Washroom'?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Egypt said, before snapping his fingers.

Italy chuckled when the three of them disappeared, and he was pleased to note that his comrades were good at improvising. It was a good balance to the well-laid plans, and it made it easier to avoid something like 'how could I have failed'?

Italy shook his head. Where did _that_ come from?

…

East Timor and Indonesia were sitting outside a bedroom, the door of the bedroom closed. The two of them were listening closely to what was going on inside.

Belgium passed by and stopped, seeing the two. Indonesia looked up and indicated that she should stay quiet.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Romano came back," East Timor explained.

"So?"

"They've been in there ever since," Indonesia clarified.

Belgium opened her mouth, before her eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh," she said. "Do you… do this often?"

"We used to join Hungary and/or France a few times," Indonesia explained.

"It reminds us that our captors aren't these scary monsters," East Timor clarified.

Belgium rolled her eyes.

"Well, they _will_ be if they find you here," she said, before sitting down as well. At their confused looks, she added: "I used to do this with Hungary a few times too."

The two brothers exchanged a look, grinning.

…

It didn't take them too long to reach Palestine. But once they did, Gaza reacted in a way which was expected. After all, when you saw nothing but ruins when you arrived in your sister's home, it was to be expected.

"NO!" he shouted. "Please, no!"

"Calm down," Jordan said. "She might be safe."

"How…?"

"You said you knew where she'd be," Michoacán said. "Lead the way."

Gaza had tears in his eyes, but he firmly nodded his head and lead the way. The others remained silent, knowing that if they said the wrong thing, it could lead to trouble.

They eventually reached a large pile of rubble, and Gaza stepped forward. They helped him remove the debris, revealing the stone tiles that had been underneath. He went to one of them which had a gap in the bonding agent used for the tiles, and the others watched as he placed his fingers there, before effortlessly lifting the tile, revealing it to be a trapdoor which was lighter than it looked.

There was a gasp, and Gaza gave a watery smile.

"Abed?" a voice whispered hoarsely.

"Enaya," he said.

There was movement, and he released the trapdoor to accept the hug that was given to him by a girl that looked slightly older, but who resembled him closely. He hugged her back, almost desperately.

After a while America cleared his throat, and the two siblings turned to him.

"I hate to interrupt," America said, "but we'd better get out of here. It's too open here."

The others nodded, and the siblings ran over to join them, with Palestine looking haggard and a little worse for wear.

"What are we going to do now?" Oman asked.

"We're pretty much finished here," America said. "Unless we want to go to Afghanistan, and I'm not feeling particularly suicidal."

"Smart," Michoacán commented.

"So?" Bahrain asked.

"We're going to Andorra," America said. "Handle things over there."

He shared a look with Michoacán, though the others remained oblivious to this exchange.

…

Iceland sighed, watching Norway as he slept. The other had gone to bed early, which wasn't so strange anymore. Norway slept a lot now.

Romania had left an hour ago, and now everyone was worried about what he was up to. He looked a little too pleased with himself. Too excited. And they didn't want to think about what that meant.

Iceland walked over towards his brother, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. He could see the other's eyes fluttering, and it pained him to see him so vulnerable.

Norway had lost _everything_ , and it was only through Iceland's intervention that he hadn't lost his life. Perhaps that was too cruel of Iceland.

So he hoped that Norway could sleep peacefully, for a change.

…

Norway found himself in darkness, with mist roiling in the air. He rolled his eyes at the cliché, knowing that he was in a dream plane, but wondering what would happen.

"Norway."

He sighed. There it was. What he had expected. A familiar voice. There was just one problem.

"I'm not Norway anymore," he said, turning to face the speaker. "I'm just Lukas. No longer a nation."

England sighed.

"Then by that logic I'm just Arthur," England said. "But at least _you're_ still alive."

"Right, 'alive'," Norway said. "Living as a prisoner, having lost the purpose of my life. Yeah, that's 'alive'."

"At least you're able to help!" England snapped.

"How? How could I _possibly_ help? I'm not a nation anymore, Arthur."

England took a deep breath, before he fixed a level gaze on Norway.

"I know how you feel," England said. "Lost, hurt, betrayed… Two people who you considered to be friends are keeping you prisoner. One of them stripped away your status as nation. At least you weren't killed by your own brother."

Norway's eyes widened.

"What?" he asked.

"They got to Wales," England said. "He killed us after a lengthy torture session. He also did the same to Australia and New Zealand that Finland did to you."

Norway looked away.

"Why now?" he asked. "Why are you here now?"

"Because we need your help," England said. "I'm the only one that could speak to you, other than my brothers, but I know you better. And you're the only magic user that _isn't_ part of _them_. Romania's presence was preventing me from reaching you, but now that he's gone…"

"Get to the point," Norway said. "And I don't think there's a way for me to help. I'm not a nation anymore. I can't do anything in this war."

"On the contrary," England said, smirking. "There's something only you can do _because_ you're no longer a nation."

"And what's that?"

"Escape."

 **I originally wanted the confrontation between Turkey's group and Egypt and Canada to go differently, but I wanted to save the ending as the scene with the biggest impact. Another time. I've also been flirting with the idea of having Greece as a spy, but figured that at this point it would be senseless to add that. So now he's a prisoner.**

 **I don't recall that anyone other than China in his group knows about the lack of signal. Since they wouldn't be able to get signal in the first place, they wouldn't notice the lack of it. That's also why Amodi hasn't been able to track them. They're that isolated.**

 **I mentioned that I've been spending time on TV Tropes recently, right? Well, they have the original Evil Overlord List, the original appendix to it, and the people in that community added** _ **more**_ **to that. One of the things that stood out was 'never assume that a plan is fool proof'. Even the best-laid plans could go wrong, and it's the overconfidence that could lead to your downfall. Italy was leaning on the fourth wall a little.**


	61. Chapter 60

**Thanks to shoujochan, Terra, KathWood67, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **So, this chapter is largely recap, and is one huge dialogue between Norway and England. At least it helps all of us get our bearings again, though some of the events aren't completely chronological, but told in relevance to each subject raised.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 60**

"What do you mean?" Norway asked.

"Any nation under their control will die if they attempt escape," England said. "But there's the loophole: any _nation_. Norway belongs to them. And they separated Lukas and Norway. Which means that _you_ , Lukas, don't belong to them. You're free to leave."

Norway's knees buckled, and he sagged to the ground, relief bubbling out of him in laughter. The laughter faded after a while, though, and he turned to England.

"I can't leave Iceland," he said. "And I can't leave Moldova or Bulgaria, either. If I'm gone, then they'll…"

"As long as they're not around when Finland and Romania find out, they'll be fine," England said. "You were originally meant to have died, after all. Now, the only use you have to them is that you're keeping Iceland in line."

"What do they even want with him, anyway?"

"They don't want his volcanoes. Not a lot of people can handle them as well as he can."

Norway paused, before making an accepting gesture.

"Romania also won't hurt Moldova," England said. "And Finland wouldn't hurt Moldova because that would upset Romania. Bulgaria is the one used in case they want to threaten Moldova."

"So, they really _don't_ need or want me," Norway said.

"Exactly."

"…Where would I even go, if I escaped?"

England sighed.

"Well, the closest allies you'll find will be in Andorra," England said. "Greenland and the others are there. But… I wouldn't go there."

At the mention of 'Greenland' Norway gave a small smile, but he frowned at England's last words.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"They have a spy in their midst," England said. "And while it would be a good idea to oust the spy, you would only be putting yourself in danger. And Yugoslavia doesn't want to fight, but they've isolated themselves. At the moment they're suffering from cabin fever, so they would regard you with distrust. And… Romania's on his way there."

Norway's eyes widened, before he averted them.

"They're about to get slaughtered, aren't they?" he asked.

"Yes," England said. "Turkey is currently in Lebanon, but he should be returning to Syria pretty soon. And America's travelling around a lot, so it might be difficult. China is too far away, and he's quite isolated. The closest ally you'll find would be Russia."

Norway swallowed before he nodded in acceptance.

"I understand," he said. "Could… could you tell me what's been going on? I don't know how much I trust Finland about the fate of the world."

"Of course," England said, smiling softly. "One advantage of being dead: you get to learn about everything that's going on. So, where should I begin?"

"Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"Of course. Centuries ago, Italy proposed to Romano that they put on a mask in order to shake off suspicion, since they were Rome's grandsons. They wanted to appear weak. It was Italy who suggested getting allies, and the first one he approached was Poland. The three then worked for a few more centuries to get allies that they felt would be useful to them, only ending the initial recruitment during World War Two. Until then, they have ensured that they manipulated the world's view on them. They would purposely lose wars. Would _purposely_ allow themselves to become someone else's territories. And sometimes, that was how they got their new recruits. Poland reached Finland after he had run away with Sweden. You remember that?"

"Of course I do," Norway said. "I was the one that had to take care of the drunk Denmark."

"Before Poland had spoken to Finland, he was considering running away from Sweden. But instead, he joined _them._ "

"And… how did Romania join?"

"He was offered to go on a bloody rampage, similar to their South American allies. They wouldn't restrain him if he wanted to torture someone. And with the Ottomans threatening his freedom, he accepted."

"But they didn't follow up, did they?"

"Actually, they did. He tortured the Ivory Coast in order to break the resolve of the other African nations that refused their initial offer. And he's going to do the same to Yugoslavia right now. There's just one major difference between now, and when he made the agreement."

Norway was thoughtful for a moment, before he sighed.

"Moldova," he said. "Romania is holding back because of his little brother."

"Correct," England said. "Now, to the start of this war. It all started when they bombed Germany, capturing him and Prussia in the process. They chose him in order to keep with the tradition of a World War starting with a Germanic nation. And Poland was still a little sore about what happened in the last one, even if it _was_ planned. They also used it as a signal to inform their allies that their masks could be removed. Before they implemented the next part of their plan, they took the opportunity to fix their own nations."

"What do you mean?"

"For example, North and South Korea reuniting, and Egypt having a mass protest, resulting in his mosques being burned down. He hated the Arab world, and wanted to restore his mother's legacy."

"And that's how they got _him_ , isn't it?" Norway asked.

"Exactly. And while the world was in chaos, Canada went to recruit Mexico to their cause, offering America's downfall. Even _they_ were surprised to discover that that had already been on Mexico's agenda, and that she was harbouring the former Confederate States of America."

Norway's eyes widened.

"That's… insane," he said.

"This is only the beginning," England said. "The African Union had a meeting soon after they captured Germany. Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Ethiopia were in on it, and so they threatened the Africans into signing up. Some of them managed to get away, only to be captured and taken to a secure facility. Ivory Coast was separated from the others, which led to the aforementioned torture. The others were forced to listen to his tortured screams until they all surrendered. And that was around the time that Moldova arrived at Romania's home. He learned about what they have been doing, and Romania captured and imprisoned his own brother."

"At least without hurting him," Norway sighed.

"Right. Anyway, returning to the subject of the Africans. South Africa had two representatives, with only one well-known. When they realised that only one of them was bound by the contract, they made arrangements to ensure that they could warn the rest of us. Of course, some of it was too late. They had managed to kill Spain and capture Portugal. And… also what they did to the Nordics."

"I see," Norway said. "Imagine how things could have gone if they hadn't been stopped earlier."

"They could have still been more covert about it. They also managed to capture Brazil, Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau before we became aware of it. And they've recruited Israel."

"Why do they want him?"

"He and Egypt share a common dislike for the Middle Eastern nations. And Israel is yet another nation with nuclear savvy. They've also been playing matchmaker with Israel and White South Africa in order to improve their Bonds. Oh, those Bonds are a form of magic they use to make themselves stronger. Black is hate, red is love, and yellow is desire. But I'm getting ahead of myself. After realising that they were independent from each other, Black South Africa made his way to my house, where he told my brothers and I what's going on. And then we called in a few more nations, and unfortunately we were joined by three micronations, who we didn't realise were working for Italy. We then called Italy and Canada, under the pretence of it being the G8. We needed to know what's going on, and we needed to confront them about it. Canada brought Egypt along, who also knows magic, and once they've confirmed everything and announced the start of World War Three, they used Egypt's magic to escape."

"So, they knew why you were calling them before they even arrived."

"Correct. Now, regarding the micronations. We didn't want to concern them with war matters, so we asked Wales to take them out of the house. What we didn't realise was that they planned it, and so they had recruited Wales, though I think a small amount of brainwashing is involved. It's possible that that's what the Bonds of Hate can do. By reminding him of his past with us, and everything that transpired, they were able to get Wales to be a devoted member of their cause."

"I think you're right. Brainwashing _is_ involved."

"Right. Russia was absent during the confrontation, because he couldn't reach the Baltics and wanted to make sure they were alright."

"He was too late, wasn't he? They were already dead by the time he arrived."

"Yes. Belarus killed them, or at least she killed Lithuania and Latvia. Estonia was killed by Finland."

"And the betrayal continues…"

"We managed to contact Slovenia, who then gathered the rest of the former Yugoslavian nations. But just before that, Moldova discovered Romania's true nature, and Romania used Ivory Coast as a hostage for a while before he was no longer needed. Thankfully, he returned him to his own country."

"That's strange."

"They're trying to avoid killing the Africans, because the magic they employed for them requires that they be alive, and that they had agreed to be part of their empire."

"Not willingly, right?"

"That's correct. A lot of blackmail and intimidation was involved. The last few were gathered by having one of them tortured while the others listened. They joined in an effort to stop it."

"Yeah. You mentioned something like that earlier."

"But when Romania returned Ivory Coast, he needed a new hostage against Moldova. One that would be more effective."

"Bulgaria."

"Yes. And right when Turkey had called him to bring him to safety. So the former Yugoslavians were _very_ willing to listen and go into hiding together. Lot of good that's going to do them now."

"Can't we do anything about them?"

"Unfortunately, no. It would only be placing you in unnecessary danger."

Norway sighed in frustration.

"In the meantime," England continued, "we relocated to another base of operations. A place that would be more secure and larger than my townhouse. But then we received a notification from the alarm company, informing me that my home alarm had been deactivated. We went to investigate and found North Korea there. We thought we captured him. It turned out that he _wanted_ us to capture him. They wanted access to our base, and they also wanted access to my computers and satellites. It was part of their 'Operation Island'. They also wanted to capture Black, and they took the opportunity to capture Morocco as well, who had joined us early on. And so, they managed to get the last of the Africans."

"And what did they do to them?" Norway asked.

"They kept Morocco for a while, and only recently released her. As for Black… See, they had brought White to their base of operations, where they… They executed Black. Right in front of her."

"Like how they murdered Sweden and Denmark."

"I suppose you could say that, yes. They also had Portugal there, and proceeded to bring in more of his former colonies. Then when they learned that he's the focus of a love triangle with China and Netherlands, they decided that they would work on that, capturing a few of Netherlands's old colonies as well. But back to what _we_ were doing. We decided to separate, joined by one of Mexico's states, who didn't want to be on their side. She went with America to save Madagascar…"

"Only to learn that that was impossible," Norway said.

"Yes. They learned that nations cannot be saved. Though Brazil has actually found a loophole."

"He has?"

"Yes. A storm spirit from South Africa told him. It would seem that White is the focus of another love triangle with Brazil and Israel, though Israel has a lead thanks to Stockholm Syndrome. Adamastor enlisted Brazil's help because he wants to save his nation."

"And what's the loophole?"

"When a member of Amodi dies, their Bonds are temporarily severed, and with the Bonds, their influence. While the Bonds are trying to recover, it's possible for one to slip past them. Of course, it's made difficult by the fact that they don't exactly advertise it when the Bonds have been damaged. And, without the proper guidance, no one would be able to figure out what happened."

"So, Brazil has used it?"

"No, but he will. Hopefully. Anyway, back to what happened on our side. I took Australia, New Zealand, my brothers and the three micronations, not knowing that four of the people I took with me were a part of Amodi. And after America discovered that the micronations are working with them, they cut off all communication to and from the UK, which prevented us from learning the truth. And soon enough, they spread their influence. France's group consisted of Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Monaco, but because of the Bonds Netherlands and China share with Portugal, the frog thought it best to send Netherlands to China in hopes of strengthening _that_ Bond while finding a way to use it to our advantage."

"But that didn't work?"

"…Actually, it's still a work in progress. But France received a call from Prussia, and immediately knew that it was a trap."

"Because communication was cut off?"

"At that point, only the UK was cut off. The rest of the world could still communicate with each other. No, he knew that it was a trap due to the nature. And yet, knowing that, he went anyway, taking the others along, though he _did_ offer them the chance to run. He wanted to get some last-minute information out of them, which he managed to send to Russia, who had decided to rebuild the Soviet Union in favour of keeping the others safe. But Belgium and Luxembourg were captured in an effort to get to Netherlands, while the others…"

"Were killed."

"Yes. Unfortunately. And then right after that, the world lost its voice."

"Communication became a problem."

"China took Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and, reluctantly, Netherlands to his home, finding a remote location that not even Amodi managed to find. And Singapore joined them there as well, after she had gone to search for help. Oh, and I should probably mention that earlier, Philippines had joined Amodi's side out of her own free will, and had massacred the entire Malaysian population before killing Malaysia himself. It was for that reason that Singapore had gone to China in the first place."

"Smart move."

"Quite. Russia has set up base in what appears to the outside as an isolated cabin, but which he had prepared to last through the Cold War. And beyond. He's been attempting to find a satellite that works, and managed to get access to some of Amodi's satellites, only for it to be a trap. He recently called Japan, finally signing the peace treaty that they had neglected after the Second World War, and forging an alliance."

"Good for them. That should change the tide of the world."

"Yes, we hope. After learning about the difficulties of saving the captured nations and the micronations' betrayal, America did two things: first, he started saving nations that haven't been captured yet. The closest being the Middle Eastern nations."

"Oh, _that_ must be fun."

"Actually, they manage to get along. It helps that nations like Iran, Syria and Afghanistan aren't with them. They were too late for Iran, and with Afghanistan he's _trying_ to avoid conflict. And Syria is with Turkey's group, consisting of Greece, Hungary and Cyprus, though they _did_ make a stop to get the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to safety. They were planning to lay a trap for Egypt, whom America's group had a run-in with. Egypt was injured, which has earned the ire of Canada. Since the Mexican state was the one responsible for the injury, they've devised a fate worse than death for her. And by communicating with each other, America and Turkey made arrangements for Turkey to get Lebanon while America went after Palestine and her brother. But some time had passed, and Egypt had largely recovered from his injury."

"He was waiting for them in Lebanon, wasn't he?"

"Yes. Luckily, they weren't too late. But they then offered a trade. They'd leave Lebanon alone, in exchange for Greece."

"They didn't go through with it, did they?"

"They did. They came to the conclusion that they had no intention of _killing_ Greece, and they wanted to avoid a death."

"But knowing our enemies, they have something worse in store."

"Yes."

"You mentioned that there were two things that America did. What was the second?"

"He ordered an attack on a micronation's land. Molossia. Amodi can control their people far more easily than we can, and they can sense those that don't belong, but they aren't bothered by their land or people being attacked. Micronations still are. Molossia didn't die immediately, but eventually died of his injuries. His girlfriend, Liechtenstein, isn't so happy about it, and had already attacked an American nuclear facility. Mexico and Canada backed down while she destroys the rest of the country."

Norway winced.

"Ouch," he said.

"Yes. But, those aren't the only nations that did something about Amodi. Afghanistan killed Taliban and forged an alliance with Pakistan. She's preparing for the worst, and making sure she's at full strength when that happens. Then we have smaller personifications – regions and the like – that went to Andorra's house, forming a resistance."

"But they have a traitor in their midst."

"Yes. Tokyo."

"Japan's capital?"

"Canada had a province, Quebec, locked up for decades. Tokyo is using him to divert attention. Though some of the female nations, including Greenland, have taken a liking to him. France says it's because Quebec possesses the French charm. Also, South America has been obliterated, with the only nations still surviving being Amodi nations and Brazil, while Africa has become their little project. But that's not all. They have killed and captured several other nations. And I think that sums up the gist of what's happening to the world."

 **I started out by reading from the beginning, but I had a bit of a late start, so I didn't get too far. But I can at least remember all of the major events. But this is why things aren't strictly chronological here.**

 **England has trouble pronouncing Michoacán's name, which is why he didn't even** _ **try**_ **to say it in this chapter.**


	62. Chapter 61

**Thanks to Terra, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Kattie, ScandinavianTrash, GreenIsBeautiful, pastaaddict and teabrows for reviewing.**

 **Amodi and the non-Amodi nations are more or less on equal footing. It could go either way. Even I haven't decided who I want to win yet, so it all depends on the story's flow.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 61**

"No, that's not all," Norway said. "What about _your_ death?"

England gave a wry smile.

"As I said, we had four enemies with us," England said. "And I also mentioned that I believe the Bonds of Hate employ brainwashing. Being in close quarters with us without other nations to distract him had set Wales on edge, and the ribbons started to influence him. They started to bring up all of the times we've been at war with him. And all the times we've demonstrated our power over him."

"In other words, you abused him," Norway said, narrowing his eyes. "Your own brother."

England looked down and swallowed thickly.

"Yes," he said. "I regret my actions. But I had completely buried the memories of them. Before I had a chance to properly apologise to him. And then it became too late."

Norway ground his teeth together.

"So, you brought that one on yourself," Norway said. "And on the rest of your brothers."

"Hey, they weren't completely innocent!" England snapped. "But… you're right. My pride is the reason why Amodi had managed to get Wales. The ribbons had opened up some old wounds – literally – which drove Wales even farther past the brink. And after America's attack on Molossia, Italy and Poland decided to help the rest of their micronations. By giving them the land that's been promised to them. By removing the nations the lands belonged to. My brothers and I, for example. But Wales certainly didn't make it a swift process. He intended to make us suffer as he had suffered."

"So, again, you dug your own grave."

"Yes."

Norway sighed.

"So what happens now?" he asked.

"You go to Russia's base of operations," England said. "I'm leaving a map in your mind. Don't worry – they wouldn't be able to track you. But they already know where Russia is. They're just waiting for the right opportunity."

"And I need to reach him before that opportunity presents itself."

"Exactly. Leave as soon as possible. Gain ground before Finland realises you're gone." England smiled. "This is a far better option than suicide."

Norway flinched, aware that England was aware of the thoughts that were constantly racing through Norway's mind.

"You're not alone," England said gently. "Australia and New Zealand share your fate. And Iceland is greatly worried about his big brother. Particularly because you hadn't asked him to call you that for a while. You didn't even notice how many times he _had_ called you that over the course of the last few days."

Norway smiled.

"He must be worried," he said guiltily. "Before I leave… I have to say goodbye to him."

"Goodbye, but not farewell," England said. "The other nations have so many questions. I'll provide you with the answers. Russia's been using General Winter to communicate with the others. Tell him there is a threat. Someone the General wouldn't be able to deter. They would need all of their strength against him."

"Who? Who is it?"

"I don't know. It's someone that Amodi had kept to themselves. Not even _we_ can get information on him."

"So all I can do is warn them," Norway said.

"Exactly. I'm going to wake you up now. When the need arises, I'll appear again. And maybe I'll bring Denmark and Sweden along. Denmark's been anxious to see you again."

Norway chuckled.

"I'm sure the Dane's been annoying everyone," Norway said. "What's it like there?"

England smiled.

"It's unfortunately something that cannot be divulged beforehand," he said. "It is to be seen for oneself when the time arrives. And hopefully, yours wouldn't come for many more years."

"But things can change with war."

…

China groaned, opening his eyes. He could tell that it was dark – either very late at night or very early morning. He remembered Beijing being attacked, and he must have passed out. Looking around, he could tell that he was in his room. He was thankful for the others for at least taking him back to his room.

They would probably be sleeping, and he didn't want to disturb them. But he was thirsty, and so he made his way to the kitchen.

But when he reached the living room, he saw something that made him smile.

Taiwan was lying on Singapore's lap, with the other leaning her head back against the back of the couch. Her hair was undone, cascading around her. In another chair, Vietnam and Thailand were lying side-by-side. And Japan was curled up on the armchair.

Only Netherlands was missing, but that didn't matter. Netherlands wasn't family.

It warmed his heart more than he could have imagined. The two Koreas might have hated him, but he still had family that loved him. Just as he loved them.

He felt guilty for worrying them, but he didn't dare disturb this picture of peace and family. He would let them sleep, and tomorrow they would work as they have.

He silently left, resuming his journey to the kitchen. Once he reached it, he felt another sense of happiness. Someone had indeed gone to get supplies, including more bottles of water. Although there was a stream nearby, they couldn't exactly be sure how safe the water was.

China sighed in frustration. How could he have let his country reach that state? He vowed that once everything was over, he would work on reparations. He would become something akin to Imperial China again. He would return to his former glory.

Pouring some water into a cup, he made his way back to the room. Taking a few gulps, leaving about half of the glass, he climbed back into bed, hoping the next day would be better.

…

Iceland was shaken awake, and he panicked, thinking back to the night when he had seen Finland's true nature for the first time. He relaxed slightly when he saw that it was Norway, but there was something different. It was as though a light had returned to Norway's eyes. It had been hard to tell before, but after seeing the light leave, the difference was more obvious.

"What's going on?" Iceland asked, his voice still groggy from sleep.

"I'm leaving," Norway said.

"What?" Iceland snapped, suddenly more awake. He shot up. "You heard what happens."

"To any _nation_ ," Norway said. "I'm not a nation anymore."

"Are you really willing to risk that chance?"

Norway sighed.

"I've been speaking to a ghost," Norway said.

"Okay, you are _definitely_ not going," Iceland said.

"Listen. I could do something. Something to help. Something that, hopefully, would buy your freedom too."

Iceland chuckled sardonically.

"And how would _that_ work?"

"When an Amodi nation dies, their influence is temporarily lifted. Look for the signs, and you should be able to escape if you're fast enough."

Iceland was quiet for a while.

"What if _we_ kill them?" Iceland asked.

"Do you know how?"

Iceland didn't answer.

"Denmark and Sweden send their regards," Norway said.

"Did you see them?" Iceland asked.

"No. It was England who came to me."

"Oh."

"Listen, Romania's on his way to kill the former Yugoslavian nations. I need to be far away by the time he gets back. And I need to get away before Finland notices I'm gone. Oh, and when he finds out, make sure that you're out of his reach."

Iceland nodded.

"Where are you going?" Iceland asked.

"I can't tell you. Finland would want to know, and I don't want him to find me. And I'm sure he'd be able to tell if you lie."

"Are you saying I'm a bad liar?"

"I'm saying they're cunning."

"Oh."

"I just wanted to say goodbye."

"No! Don't say goodbye! Please."

"It's just goodbye. It's not farewell."

Iceland nodded his head, looking a little teary-eyed.

"Say it," Norway said. "I want to hear you call me 'big brother'."

Iceland burst out into laughter. It was just proof that his brother was indeed feeling better.

"I wish you the best, big brother," Iceland said.

Norway smiled, before he gave Iceland a hug. They broke apart, and Norway left.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Iceland muttered when Norway was out of earshot.

…

The others were all asleep, but America remained awake. Many thoughts were racing through his mind, and it was getting hard to keep track of all of them.

He had already lost several of his states, and there was no way for him to get in touch with them. No way to get them to safety. All he could do is wait for them to die.

The nations of Amodi had been quiet, at least regarding him. He had a feeling that it meant that something bad was about to happen. And he wondered how much more he could take.

He could already feel it happening. In the middle of a war, he tended to develop a cold, sadistic side. It was that side that had caused him to drop those bombs on Japan. The more he was pushed, the deeper he went.

It had scared him after he realised what he had done to Japan, and he was just thankful that it had developed a lot slower during the Cold War. And that he hadn't gone in too deep during Vietnam. But when things happened on his own soil, it became harder and harder to hold it in.

But now, it was developing a lot faster than normal. Probably because Amodi moved faster than any other opponent he's faced. And normally, his war-side wasn't that bad of a presence, except for one thing: the nations travelling with him.

He knew that he needed to keep it in check for their sakes. He didn't want to make them suffer for it. He knew that he would most likely lash out at them. That he would hurt them in some way, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. And he knew that some of them had suffered a great deal, Palestine and Gaza the most obvious with Israel targeting them so cruelly after he had joined Amodi.

He didn't want to hurt any of them, but he had a feeling that soon enough, it would be hard to avoid that.

…

Poland yawned as he stepped off the plane. He had hoped that it would have landed at a better time, but obviously that wasn't going to happen.

Oh well. He was almost back at base. Almost back to Italy.

He smiled. The two of them could spend a little time together to make up for the time they'd lost while Poland was in Mongolia.

And what were the odds of San Marino interrupting them at this time of night?

He needed to stop right there. He didn't want to jinx it.

He managed to get a taxi to take him to Vatican's gates, and the humans let him in, already familiar with his face. Soon enough he arrived at their base, and he confidently strode in.

The building was quiet, and he knew that there would most likely be a few people still awake, but that most would be asleep. Knowing how much of a hard worker Italy was, he made his way to the office.

Sure enough, Italy was working, and he immediately looked up when he felt a presence. He smiled when he saw Poland, and stepped away from his seat.

"You're back," Italy said happily. "Was it everything you hoped it would be?"

"I managed to get revenge on the asshole that made my childhood hell," Poland said. "It was really satisfying. But not as satisfying as coming back to you."

Italy smiled, hugging Poland, who happily returned the hug.

Poland could sense a presence behind him, and he felt Italy tightening his hold. This was followed by rushed footsteps retreating.

"San Marino?" Poland asked.

"Si," Italy said. "At least he knows not to interrupt us. This time."

"I think we should lock the door."

"I think we should go to bed, and _then_ lock _that_ door."

"Good idea."

…

Madeira tiptoed to Quebec's room, wanting to check on him. She was aware of the fact that the boys weren't so happy about the amount of time the girls were spending with him, but how could they _not_ want to help him out? She also wondered how much of that was the boys being jealous.

She quietly opened Quebec's door and peeked in. She immediately saw him, even through the darkness, but there was something wrong. His breathing was shallow and rapid, and every now and again she heard him whimpering. Was he having a nightmare?

She turned on the light, seeing that he wasn't waking up. But now she _could_ see that he had a distressed look on his face. And as she walked closer, she could see that he appeared even paler than usual and drenched in sweat.

Definitely a nightmare.

Madeira reached out and calmly stroked his hair, wanting to soothe him without waking him. But that proved futile when his eyes snapped open, and he gasped in shock.

"It's me," she said quickly. "You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?"

He blinked at her for a moment before his eyes turned dull. He curled up on the bed and averted his gaze.

She reached out to stroke his hair again, and he flinched at her touch.

"It's okay," she said. "I won't hurt you."

His body shook, and she realised that he had started crying. He still tried to avoid speaking, so she couldn't ask him what was wrong. It might just put a strain on his recovering vocal chords.

"Hey, should we try some water?" she suggested. "Maybe you'd be able to hold it in now."

He sniffed, and to her surprise he nodded. She didn't hesitate, rushing to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, passing Greenland on the way.

"What's going on?" Greenland asked tiredly, on her way to the kitchen as well.

"Quebec had a nightmare," Madeira said. "We're going to see if he can handle water now."

"…What were you doing in Quebec's room?"

"I was just checking on him. I'm worried. Aren't you?"

Greenland sighed, following Madeira to the kitchen.

"How long do you think it would take?" Greenland asked.

"He was just a kid," Madeira said, pouring water into a glass. "And the nation that was supposed to care for him locked him up and left him to starve. No wonder he's having nightmares. Imagine how he must have felt when he realised what was happening."

Greenland pursed her lips, before she poured some water for herself. Madeira didn't wait, walking back as fast as she could without spilling the water. Greenland quickly gulped her own water before she rushed to catch up with the island.

Quebec was still curled up on the bed, trembling violently. He accepted the glass that Madeira offered him, only drinking a sip or so. Madeira stealthily moved the trash bin closer.

"Better?" Madeira asked gently.

Quebec nodded his head, before he took a larger gulp. They waited anxiously, but when it didn't look as though he was about to empty his stomach, he took a few more gulps of water.

"So, looks like he can drink water now," Greenland said. "Will you be alright?"

Quebec didn't respond, instead freezing up. The two noticed this, and Madeira placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

Quebec looked at her, and the expression spoke of so much fear that she felt her breath hitch.

"I'll never be free," Quebec whispered.

"You're free _now_ ," Greenland said.

Quebec sobbed, and Madeira pulled him into a hug.

"Do you want me to stay tonight?" Madeira asked. "It should help."

Greenland's jaw dropped as Quebec nodded, and the Nordic was feeling a little peeved at the Iberian. She bit her lip before she smiled.

"I'll stay here too, if that's okay," she said.

Quebec gave a small smile, and Madeira shot her a look. Greenland then went to turn off the light as Quebec relaxed again on the bed, the two girls soon curling up on either side of him.

…

Tokyo was outside Quebec's room, narrowing his eyes. He had noticed Madeira and Greenland, and he had heard what they had discussed.

He would need to make sure that Quebec didn't speak out of turn. And he would need to report to the others.

But this might work to his advantage. The girls seemed to be distracted by Quebec's recovery, and the guys are a little jealous. It might not be the way he intended, but Quebec _was_ proving to be a distraction.

As long as his mission wasn't compromised, he supposed he could tolerate it.

…

San Marino sighed, a little annoyed. He knew that he would get in trouble, but this was news that Italy would want to hear. So he knocked on the door.

"Carlino!" Italy's voice came from inside the locked room.

"How'd you know it's me?" San Marino asked.

"Lucky guess."

"Well, sorry to interrupt, but I have good news."

He heard a shuffle from inside, and soon enough Italy opened the door, looking at him irritably.

"What?" he snapped.

"There's a storm over Asia," San Marino said. "Near India."

"So?"

"A plane carrying the provinces of China and the prefectures of Japan was caught in the storm, crash-landing in the mountains. There was a huge fire."

Italy chuckled.

"So, in other words, what you're saying is that nature has decided to help us out by getting rid of some annoying pests on their way to join _other_ annoying pests?" Italy said. "This _is_ good. Tokyo would want to know."

"I'll let him know in the morning," San Marino said. "Goodnight, Feliciano."

"Goodnight Carlino. Now, don't bother us."

…

China gasped, startling awake. He could sense that something was wrong. His provinces…

In the living room, Japan _also_ startled awake, acting as though he couldn't breathe. All of his prefectures… Except for Tokyo.

 **When I realised how crowded it would be when the Japanese and Chinese regions arrived… I thought of having them get killed, but I wanted it to be something mundane, like a plane crash. But there's always the chance that some of them survived.**

 **I realised that England didn't really get into detail about his death, so here it is.**


	63. Chapter 62

**Thanks to Kattie, Terra, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, teabrows and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 62**

Japan looked more than tired when the others arrived in the kitchen, hoping that the Japanese had made breakfast. They were greeted by simple porridge, and they all knew that something was up.

"Did something happen?" Taiwan asked.

Japan nodded, before he yawned.

"My prefectures were all travelling by plane," Japan said. "The plane was caught in a storm, and crashed in a mountain."

"Funny," China said, arriving at the door. "The same thing happened to my provinces."

"Yao!" Singapore exclaimed. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?" Japan asked.

"I think if anything, they've been in contact with each other," China explained. "And they've concocted a plan to go to the same location together. But it didn't work out, did it?"

The others were silent as they absorbed this information.

"It's not safe to fly," Singapore said. "Having no active satellites makes it difficult to see if there are any storms along their course. And they can't tell who's an ally and who isn't, so landing's a bit tricky. And they wouldn't even be able to radio someone to request aid."

Silence again.

"Did any of them survive?" Thailand asked.

"I don't know," China said. "There's too much pain coming from all of them. I can't tell who's dead and who's simply injured."

"I wouldn't use the word 'simply'," Japan said. "'Severely' is more appropriate. And I know that Tokyo, at least, has escaped that fate, though I have no idea where he is at the current time."

"Just be lucky someone _did_ escape," China said.

The others were quiet again, and the silence was broken with Netherlands loudly sipping his tea.

"It's bad that we can't do anything," Netherlands said. "So, I hope that one of you at least has a plan. Because I don't know about you, but I'm sick of sitting here helplessly. Also, you need better tea."

"Russia managed to contact me," Japan said.

"Actually, it would be more accurate to say that he brought his snowy friend to take you back to his lair," Taiwan said.

Japan sighed.

"As I was saying," Japan continued, "the two of us have forged an alliance, and we will launch new satellites."

Netherlands shrugged, while China rounded on Japan.

"It's at least _something_ ," Netherlands said.

"And when did _this_ happen?" China asked.

"After you passed out," Vietnam explained. "So, how long before the satellites are operational?"

"Russia is working on the schematics, and once he's done we'll start with building," Japan said.

"But at least it's a plan," Singapore said. "It's more than we had yesterday."

"Right," Japan said. "So now, all we have to do is wait for Russia."

"Looks like it," China sighed.

…

Norway had grabbed some of Finland's winter gear before he left, and had managed to steal a car. Once he reached the border, however, he had to ditch the car and find another way in.

So now he was travelling through the Russian wilderness, the cold starting to settle more and more. He was accompanied by his fairies, and they at least helped him stay warm.

He realised that he could still see his fairies and use magic once he gained confidence again. So it was never a matter of having lost it. It was just a matter of not being able to use it. The revelation made him unbelievably happy. He wasn't as weak and helpless as he thought.

Of course, his power wasn't the same as it had been, but it was better than nothing.

He only wished that there was an easier way to get to Russia's base of operations. Because he didn't know if he would be able to last until he reached it. Why couldn't Russia have made the base a little closer? He was cold, tired and hungry, and he was thinking that he was seriously underprepared.

He paused when the snow falling in front of him started acting strangely, and the air turned colder. He looked up when the snow formed into a solid shape, one that he recognised.

"G-General W-Winter," Norway stuttered, the cold making it difficult to speak.

"Since you know my name, I assume you're not an ordinary human," the General said. "Though, you don't feel like a nation."

"N-not a-anymore. Th-they t-took it a-away f-from m-me."

The General scrutinised him.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" the General asked.

"N-Norway," Norway said. "I-I'm l-looking f-for R-Russia."

…

Russia sighed in relief, finally finishing the schematics for the new satellites. Now he just needed to get in contact with Japan and they could start.

Russia yawned, wondering if he should call Japan before or after he had taken a nap. He had been working all through the night, and was understandably tired.

Russia's eyes widened when General Winter suddenly appeared in front of him, a small figure huddled against him. The General sighed as he fixed Russia with a look.

"I found him wandering around," the General said. "He said he's looking for _you_."

Russia frowned, looking closer at the figure huddled against the General. The smaller male decided to help Russia by stepping back, looking up at him with dull, blue eyes.

"Norway?" Russia asked.

"N-not a-anymore," Norway said.

Russia knew that Norway was cold, and he seemed to be missing a vital detail. However, last he heard, Norway was a nation captured by Amodi, and since the captured nations were unable to escape, well…

"How?" Russia asked.

"They h-have th-this p-potion," Norway said. "I-it s-strips a-a n-nation o-of their s-status. I-it's h-how I-I m-managed t-to e-escape."

Russia didn't want to blindly believe him, but if he was speaking the truth, then it could be to their advantage.

"Come, comrade," Russia said. "Let's get you warmed up."

…

Croatia sighed in relief, leisurely strolling through the town. It was his turn to go out for supplies, and he was in no hurry to return to the others. He could tell that it wouldn't be long before they really went at each other.

He was humming cheerfully when a hand suddenly clamped over his mouth, and he was dragged away. He struggled, screaming in desperation and trying to remove the hand when he felt someone's breath tickling his ear.

"Stop struggling or I'll kill all of these people," a familiar harsh voice whispered in his ear.

Croatia's eyes widened and he went completely limp. His body felt incredibly cold, and he knew that it was due to the fear that gripped his heart.

"Good boy," Romania whispered. "Now, I want you to take me to the others, and in exchange I'll let you live longer. What do you say?"

The hand was removed from his mouth, and Croatia swallowed nervously, before he shook his head. In the next instant he was slammed against the nearby wall, hand wrapped around his throat.

"Why not?" Romania snarled, though he sounded incredibly calm. "I'm being generous here."

"You'll let me 'live longer'," Croatia said. "You're still going to kill me. How is that being 'generous'?"

"Fine, then. When I kill you, I'll make sure it's quick and painless, in contrast to how the rest will die."

Croatia closed his eyes, before shaking his head.

"Then maybe you want me to let you live?"

Romania was starting to get frustrated, and Croatia took a deep breath.

"What did you do to Bulgaria?" Croatia asked.

"He's still alive," Romania said, his face blank. "Unharmed. Babysitting Moldova. But you haven't given me an _answer_ yet…"

"No," Croatia whispered. "I won't take you to them. I won't let you kill them."

Romania stared at him with a blank face, before he smirked.

"I tracked you down _here_ , didn't I?" Romania asked. "How did you think I knew to do that? And do you _honestly_ think that I wouldn't be able to find the others on my own."

Croatia stared at him with dawning horror.

"Then why do you want me to tell you where to find them?" Croatia asked.

"Because desperation, betrayal and guilt are fun toys," Romania said. "I _so_ wanted to see it on all of your faces. So it's just my _luck_ that the one I caught turned out to be so _noble._ Oh well. There are _other_ fun things I can do with you. Do you know what the five basic torture groups are?"

Croatia's fear had reached new heights, and he tried to scream for help, only for Romania to clamp his mouth shut again.

"If 'loud' was a guess, you're correct," Romania said. "But we're not getting into detail with that one. I'll introduce you to the other four. And when I'm done, I'll take you back to your friends. I'm still deciding on whether or not I should take you to them _alive_."

Romania released his throat and delivered a blow to the solar plexus, winding Croatia. Romania then threw him over his shoulder and started walking away.

"And remember, if you scream, I'll kill everyone out in the street," Romania said.

Croatia closed his eyes, trembling in fear. He knew that Romania would follow through on his threat. And he also knew that Romania would go through with the torture of him, and would enjoy every moment of it.

He idly wondered how long it would take the others to realise that something was wrong.

…

Hungary lightly shook Lebanon awake, who turned wide eyes on her.

"We're here," Hungary said.

They had returned to Syria's house after retrieving Lebanon. Turkey yawned, tired from having to drive through the night. But they didn't want to risk Egypt or another Amodi nation coming back.

"I'm going to _bed_ ," Turkey said, marching into the building.

"I wonder what they're doing to Greece," Cyprus said.

"They won't kill him," Turkey assured.

"Perhaps," Syria said. "But there are fates far worse than death."

…

Greece was tied to a chair, trying desperately to get free. He was blindfolded, but he could hear that Canada and Egypt were nearby.

Egypt had used his magic to transport them to the 'Washroom', whatever that was. So far, he had no idea what they intended to do to him. All he knew was that every so often, they would come and force feed him coffee. And whenever he tried to fall asleep, he would receive an electrical jolt that would keep him awake.

He had no idea what the 'Washroom' was supposed to be for. All he knew was that it wasn't meant for the literal purpose of its name. There was a telling lack of any form of soap, for one thing.

"You kept some interesting company, Greece," Egypt's voice said casually. "Usually, you and Turkey can't stand to be in the same room as each other."

"Things change," Greece said. "You're proof of that."

"I didn't change. I just kept my true self hidden. The Egypt you knew never existed. The only thing that's changed about me is that I'm more honest now."

"What is it that you want with me?"

Greece flinched when he felt Egypt's hand on his head.

"You'll see in time," Egypt said. "But first, tell me why you thought that you and Turkey could make such a good team?"

"We didn't," Greece said. "We just did what's necessary."

"He was the leader of your little group, wasn't he? Who decided _that_ , I wonder?"

Greece bit his bottom lip, refusing to play into Egypt's hands.

"Did you think that you were becoming friends?" Egypt asked. "He gave you up pretty easily."

"He needed to save Lebanon," Greece said. "And he knew that you wouldn't kill me."

"But he didn't _have_ to give you up," Egypt pointed out. "After all, you had me and Matthew outnumbered. I'm still recovering from an injury, which you somehow found out about. No one had to be sacrificed. Turkey didn't even _try_ to negotiate for a better solution."

Greece was silent.

"What did you hope to contribute anyway?" Egypt asked. "Your economy was weak for too long. It had to be pressing on your health. Perhaps _that's_ why you were always so tired? Because of your poor health. But not a lot of others understand that point of view. I recall people calling you a 'lazy ass who leeches off of others and who couldn't even afford to spend time awake'."

Greece gritted his teeth, straining against his bonds.

"But I know you better," Egypt whispered. "You're just like me. The son of a once-great civilisation, who's been influenced by the Romans and the Ottomans. Who had been reduced to _nothing_. But I'm returning my country to its former glory. Egypt will take back its ancient roots, but with a modern twist. Modernity. Something the Arabs lack. They're still trapped in the old ways. They're too blind to look forward. They're trapped in their ideals. The _wrong_ ideals, by the way. The past and present should come together to shape the future. I can help Greece. I can help you be restored to a glorious nation. And I can help you out with your little refugee problem."

Greece's hands were curled into fists, tears gathering in his eyes. Even though he couldn't see those tears, Egypt must have known that they were there, for he patted Greece's head while shushing him.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," Egypt said. "We have plenty of time. You're not going anywhere."

Egypt stepped away, and Greece strangely found himself missing the contact. He heard Egypt somewhere else in the room, before some soothing music started to play.

If only he could sleep to that music.

…

The Soviet nations were all gathered around Norway, who was eating a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee nearby. They wanted to give him some time, but they also wanted to know whether or not it would be safe to trust him, and they wanted to learn what else he knew.

"Are you warmer now?" Russia asked.

Norway nodded his head, looking at Russia.

"I suppose you want an explanation?" Norway asked.

"Da," Russia said. "That would be nice. I thought those under their control cannot escape, or they'll die?"

"It only works for nations," Norway said. "They have a potion that robs a nation of their status, effectively dissolving them. It's what happened with Prussia, only faster. And once the process is complete, they can kill the former nation. It's how they killed Denmark and Sweden."

Russia drew up slightly.

"You were found by General Winter outside in the cold," Russia said. "Very stupid."

"But necessary," Norway said. "England contacted me from the afterlife. I'm probably the only magic user that isn't on their side who's still alive. He wanted me to help you guys."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Czech asked.

Norway turned to Russia.

"You recently forged an alliance with Japan, right?" Norway said.

"Da," Russia said. "Yesterday, in fact."

"And you've been meaning to get access to their satellites, but the closest you got was a trap."

"…Da."

"Let's get back on track," Slovakia said. "Norway, why are you still alive?"

Norway looked down.

"They were using me to control Iceland," Norway said. "They don't want to have his land become one of theirs because they don't want his volcanoes. And to keep him in line, they kept _me_ around. They also have Bulgaria and Moldova with them."

"For what purpose?" Russia asked.

"You know that Romania and Finland are an item?"

The others were silent for a moment.

"That's news to me," Russia said. "But… I think I see what you're trying to say. You are Finland's prisoner, da?"

"Ja," Norway said. "And Romania came with _his_ prisoners so that the two of them could be together."

"I don't know whether that's twisted or romantic," Armenia said.

"It doesn't matter," Russia said. "What else did 'England' tell you?"

Norway shot him a look, and Russia knew that Norway knew that he was still under suspicion, though he didn't comment on it.

"There's something coming," Norway said. "Something coming your way. They haven't sent it out yet. They're waiting for the 'opportune time'. England couldn't tell me what it was, only that it wasn't a nation."

The others looked worried, though Russia retained his calm.

"What else?" Russia asked.

"Romania's on his way to kill the Yugoslavians," Norway said.

Russia pursed his lips, looking a little worried now.

"Australia and New Zealand are suffering the same fate as me," Norway continued. "And they're kept at their base of operations in Vatican City."

Russia's eyes widened.

"You know where they're hiding?" Russia asked.

Norway nodded.

"I can also tell you Finland's address," Norway said. "And where they keep other prisoners."

The gears in Russia's head were turning. It was obvious to the others what he was thinking about. He had to decide whether or not to handle this on his own, or call in the others for help.

"I will try to see if that's true," Russia said. "General Winter could help with that. And then, I think it's time for a meeting."

…

America's group had arrived in Andorra, and they were calmly walking the streets. It was obvious that Amodi didn't pose much of a threat there yet. The people weren't tense, and the glances they received were due more to curiosity and less to suspicion.

"So…" America started. "Anyone know where his house is?"

The others sighed in frustration.

"I've got it," Michoacán said. "They sent it to me, just in case."

"Sweet," America said. "Knew I could count on you, Mel."

The others just rolled their eyes, but they didn't comment. They knew that America was actually _trying_ not to be a nuisance, and was _trying_ to be less oblivious. One significant piece of evidence was that he had learned a bit of volume control. He still spoke loudly, but not as much as he used to.

They finally arrived at a rather nice home, and it was clear that it was a nation's address, built to accommodate quite a few people.

"Alright," America said. "Let's go."

 **The five basic torture groups are a reference to the Angel episode 'Five by Five'. They are blunt, sharp, hot, cold and loud. And in Danganronpa 3: Despair arc, Junko mentions that torture is made more terrifying by the use of everyday items, and wonders how many potential weapons we interact with every day. That's partially why I tend to go that route when torturing a character, though I've been doing that since before I watched Danganronpa.**

 **So, any guesses what the Washroom is for?**


	64. Chapter 63

**Thanks to Eternal Nexus Warrior, Terra, Kattie, Elsa, ScandinavianTrash, kagaminekorea, pastaaddict, teabrows, espeon64 and an anon for reviewing. We've passed 550 reviews. Thanks guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 63**

Andorra opened the door and smiled in relief when he saw who was on the other side, before frowning in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Andorra asked.

"I heard about Quebec," Michoacán explained. "Something about it all seems fishy. I'd like to interview him. See if he has anything to hide."

Andorra sighed.

"Interviewing is going to be tricky," he said. "He can't really speak."

"I have ways to make that work," Michoacán said.

Andorra stared at her for a moment, before turning to look at the nations around her.

"And what about you?" he asked.

"We want to know how the rest of you are doing," America said. "We're on the same side, after all."

"That we are. And I think we all would like to know how your end is going. Alright. Come on in."

The group obliged, happy to be in friendlier territory again. Andorra led the way to the living room, where all of the males of Andorra's group were waiting, with Picardy surrounded by little white birds and pieces of paper around him.

"Hey, I've seen France with a bird like that," America said.

"Well, they _were_ his," Picardy said.

"Wait, I know you! Didn't you help France that one April Fools' Day?"

Picardy looked up, looking sheepish.

"Oui, that's me," he said.

"What are you doing?" Gaza asked.

"Trying to get in touch with others," Basque said. "We've been trying to get as many allies here as possible. We're still waiting for the Japanese and Chinese to arrive."

Tokyo pursed his lips, though no one took notice of it.

"I'll take you to Quebec," Andorra said, turning to Michoacán.

"Wait, I want to come too," America said.

"Alright."

As Andorra led the North Americans away, the Middle Easterners went to take their seats. Åland frowned, eyes trained on Palestine and Gaza.

"You two look tired," he observed.

"They've been under constant attack from Israel, who's working for Amodi," Jordan said.

"At least Israel was doing things the old-fashioned way," Oman said.

"How is that a good thing?" Palestine asked.

"Because they like to personally go for the nations," Yemen said. "We tried to get Emirates. It didn't go so well. They don't just _kill_. They _play_ with you. And they've developed nuclear bullets, which hurt like _hell_ , by the way. A fatal shot could actually kill a nation."

"We got lucky," Oman said, looking a little pale. "If Egypt hadn't run out of bullets, he would have killed me too."

The room was silent for a while, as the reality settling over them.

"Spain had his heart ripped out," Basque said. "And they ate it. I don't think they kill the nations personally because it's more effective. I think they do it because they get some sort of sick pleasure from it."

"I think you're right," Kuwait said, looking green. "Um, where's the bathroom?"

…

Andorra led the way to Quebec's room, and he wasn't subtle about his annoyance when they saw that the girls were all there again, an IV attached to Quebec's arm. They turned when they noticed their presence.

"Sorry to bother you," Andorra said tersely. "But America and Michoacán would like to have a word with Quebec."

It was subtle, but the girls' body language changed. Michoacán could see that they were all protective over Quebec. Quebec, for his part, looked a little panicked at that statement. Michoacán narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I assure you that we won't harm him," Michoacán said. "That would just be a pathetic thing to do. We just want to ask him a few things."

Madeira and Catalonia exchanged a glance, but it was America that stepped forward, looking at Quebec with a look of horror.

"You're one of Mattie's states?" America whispered.

"Province," Michoacán corrected.

Quebec flinched, averting his eyes, but nodding his head.

"How could he have done that to you?" America asked. "I mean… Sure, I get why he might hate _me_ , but… How could he do that to his own kid?"

Quebec scrunched his eyes shut, and Madeira turned to Michoacán.

"Alright," Madeira said. "We'll leave you alone with him, but if you hurt him…"

"We won't," Michoacán assured.

"You should probably know that he can't really talk much," Greenland said. "He can whisper some things every now and again, but that's about it."

"I understand."

The girls hesitated a while longer, before reluctantly leaving. Michoacán entered the room, following America, and closed the door behind them.

Quebec was violently trembling, and he avoided looking at America. Michoacán glanced between the two, an eyebrow raised.

"Is there a reason why you're scared of America?" Michoacán asked.

Quebec looked up slightly, and he flinched when he saw America.

"Th-they l-look… the s-same," he whispered.

Michoacán glanced towards America again, and he widened his eyes in realisation.

"So… You're scared of me because I look like Canada?" America asked.

Quebec didn't answer, and Michoacán sighed.

"This is going to be difficult," she said. "America, could you wait outside, please?"

America looked at her, before he sighed.

"Sure," he said. "I-I just wanted to see him. To know what he looks like. S-so… I'll go."

America made a hasty retreat, and Michoacán carefully watched Quebec. He still looked nervous, but he had relaxed dramatically. She approached him, and though he didn't lift his head, she knew that he was watching her.

"What's with the IV?" she asked. "Can't eat?"

He shook his head.

"Why?" she asked.

"Too long," he whispered.

"You went too long without food?" she asked, and he nodded. "How long is 'too long'?"

"A few… decades."

She whistled lowly, before she sat down on the floor, getting a clearer look of his blue eyes.

She could see that they looked dull, and it was clear that he wasn't lying about his malnourishment. However, given how tense he _was_ , it would be hard to read his body language.

"Did you see Canada at all recently?" Michoacán asked.

He bit his lip, before he nodded.

"Why?" she asked. "What did he want?"

He was quiet for a moment, but she waited patiently. This was a delicate operation, after all.

"Michoacán," he whispered.

"Yes?" she responded to her name.

Quebec looked at her, and she could see sympathy in his eyes.

"He's… mad," Quebec said. "He showed… Egypt. The same… to you."

It took her a while to process what he was saying, but once she did, she gasped.

"So… Canada's mad at me for hurting Egypt, right?" she asked, just to make sure.

He nodded his head.

"And Canada showed you to Egypt, in your… less healthy state."

Another nod.

"And… that's what they're planning to do to me? As punishment?"

Yet another nod.

"…Thank you for warning me."

He looked straight at her, and she smiled.

"It must be difficult, knowing what you know," Michoacán said. "You didn't _have_ to tell me. But now I can be prepared in case I ever see Canada or Egypt again."

He stared at her for a moment, before averting his eyes again.

"Did Canada let you go?" she asked.

He shook his head, and she pursed her lips. She had hoped to get him to relax a bit more, but from what she could tell, he wasn't lying.

"Are you working for him?" she asked.

He shook his head again, and she bit her lip.

"Why keep you alive in the first place?" she asked.

"Create… conflict," he whispered. "Less… suspicious."

She understood what he meant. Internal conflicts made a nation less suspicious of preparing an army. Having an entire province conflicted with the main nation would certainly create the illusion of the nation having to deal with internal affairs. If the main nation's outward appearance wasn't threatening, then as long as the ones causing the civil unrest didn't gain an upper hand, it wouldn't really matter to other nations. It would only look as though the nation was having too much to deal with to worry about preparing a war.

In other words, Quebec had been used as part of Canada's mask. By having the province in distress, the people would act on it. By not having him go through physical abuse, though, prevented the people from becoming too violent. There were separatists, but they were rather peaceful.

Which reminded Michoacán to check the state of affairs of her own land sometime.

"Did you know about these guys before coming here?" she asked.

Quebec shook his head.

"How'd you come to join them?"

"Tokyo," he whispered.

"Did you run into each other?"

He nodded.

"Where?"

"Near… here," he whispered. "Was looking… for France…"

His natural hesitancy when speaking made it hard to figure out if he was lying. But it made sense that he would seek out France. His land would remember the connection it had with the European, and since the main nation couldn't be counted on for comfort, he would seek out the one with a historical connection and hope for the best.

"But how'd you get here?" she asked.

"Stowed… away," he whispered.

She sighed. It was clear that she wouldn't be able to find a suitable answer from his words or body language, so she decided to see what his body told her.

He was extremely pale, past the point of being sickly, looking even paler than a corpse. Though there was some attempt at soaking in sunlight, but it was only recently. His body was thin, almost completely skeletal. The fact that he was getting food through an IV was proof that he was so malnourished that his body completely rejected food.

She had to commend the others on their compromise.

His eyes were dull, and he was simply staring at a place in front of him. His eyes barely moved, not even flitting around as one often did when they were nervous. The only times his eyes would move was a reflexive action whenever _she_ moved. And the fact that he remained so still was proof that he was used to being in one position for a long time.

At least they cleaned him. Did _they_ clean him?

"Did the others give you a bath?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Strange," he whispered. "Never… had one… before."

…Yep, he was making things difficult.

She glanced towards his wrists, where she could see a bruised ring on each. Manacles. He had indeed been a prisoner for some time.

But how did he get _out_?

"One more question," she said, "and I want you to look me in my eyes: Are you an Amodi spy?"

He _did_ look her straight in the eye, and he shook his head, maintaining eye contact. She couldn't see his eyes waver, and he had no other tells to show that he was lying. But with those dull eyes of his, she couldn't quite tell if he was telling the truth.

"I hope you don't mind," she said, standing up.

She approached him, and the closer she got, the more he shrank back. She grabbed his wrist, and he flinched at the contact. He knew not to pull away. He was afraid of pain, but he wouldn't fight back. Further evidence of his abuse. He had learned not to try to protect himself.

He hardly had muscle mass; only enough for his body to be able to move. She could see the veins under his skin. And she had a feeling that if she tried, she would be able to break his bones.

She couldn't tell if he was lying, but she _could_ say with confidence that he couldn't hurt any of them. She was pretty sure that a micronation would be able to beat him. Or a human.

If Amodi _had_ sent him as a spy, then it didn't make sense. Why would they send someone so weak and frail? They had to know that he would be easily defeated by the ones he was supposed to be spying on. Sending him in would only serve to damage their own strength.

But would it? They already knew that nations that escaped them were immediately killed by some sort of magic, but what about regions? Did it work on _them_?

Spain, Portugal and Denmark were all Amodi territories, yet Catalonia, Basque, Madeira, Faroe and Greenland were there, not to mention Åland, even though Finland was actually a member of Amodi.

Perhaps that was why she had never seen a province, state or region from an Amodi nation. Maybe…

"The other provinces and territories," she began, "are they dead?"

Quebec closed his eyes, and nodded his head. His face looked pained.

"Did all of Amodi kill their smaller territories?"

He shrugged, and she sighed.

"What do you think of the regions living here?" she asked.

"Nice," he whispered. "Girls. Guys… hate me."

"I think they're mostly just jealous of you," she said. "That's the impression I've gotten from Andorra. Just give it time, okay?"

He nodded his head, though he wouldn't smile.

There was something else troubling him, and normally she would probe further, but she felt that she had already done enough. And she had already gotten what she came for.

Quebec posed no threat, and she didn't believe that he had any intention of harming the others.

Still, though, there were a few pieces missing, preventing her from seeing the big picture.

…

America was waiting outside the room, still in shock. _That_ was how Quebec looked after he'd had time to recover. What did he look like _before_?

He couldn't believe that Canada would do that to his own province. He was essentially his _kid_ , for heaven's sake! He could understand that Canada hated him, England and France, but to take it out on his province?

What did he do to the others?

What hurt America the most was that Quebec refused to look at him. Because he looked like Canada. They weren't _that_ alike!

But as he thought that, he remembered how Canada was often mistaken for him. By nations that weren't in on their little lie. Nations ignored Canada, unless they thought he was America. And even though it was a mask, how much did it annoy Canada?

Was his invisibility even part of the mask?

If not, then America had a feeling that he knew one other reason why Canada would work with Amodi. The mask most likely only had to make Canada look quiet, polite and peaceful, but he ended up being overshadowed by America. Which only made his resentment grow. And America wasn't always the kindest to his brother.

If America ever saw him again, he would apologise for that. It probably wouldn't make Canada change his ways, and it probably wouldn't grant him mercy, but America had a feeling that he just needed to get it out of the way.

…

General Winter was travelling through Vatican, completely invisible. He also made sure that he didn't bring any cold with him. It would give him away.

He had heard that the Vatican was a popular tourist destination, but the streets were empty. And the people that he _did_ see were all locals, and they had no signs of fear, just business that they had to take care of.

He stopped when he reached a building where he could sense the presence of many nations within those walls. If there really _was_ a base of operations, then this would probably be the place.

He still needed to make sure.

He drifted to the windows, and in most of them he could see them. He didn't really know what they looked like, at least until he saw Poland, someone he _definitely_ recognised, and who he _knew_ was one of the leaders of Amodi.

Which meant that Norway was speaking the truth about this being their base of operations.

He explored further, and paused when he saw two humans in a room, looking despondent. With more focus, he could sense that they weren't entirely human, but they weren't nations.

They felt the same as Norway.

He made a mental note, and explored further. He saw three Asian nations in another room, and he could tell that they were prisoners based on their expressions. One of them turned to the window, and the General had a feeling that he knew that he was there. But soon enough he averted his eyes, and the General moved on.

Well, at least now they knew where the enemy's base was, and that they had prisoners. Ivan would be pleased to hear this.

…

Michoacán and America returned to the living room, where all of the others were waiting. They turned to her expectantly.

"Good news is, I don't think Quebec would hurt any of you," she said.

"Of course not," Madeira quickly said.

"It's also a matter of 'couldn't' hurt you. He's physically too weak for that, and he seems genuinely afraid of Canada. However, he's a little hard to read. He's… numb, should I say."

"So, you're saying there's a chance that he could fool you?" Picardy asked.

"One thing I know for a fact is that Amodi wouldn't send someone so weak. He would also be too obvious. And that's not their style."

The others were quiet for some time.

"We'll still keep an eye on him," Basque said. "Something's not right about him."

"I'll admit that there are a few blanks," Michoacán said. "But… don't treat him with outright hostility. He might prove to be a useful source of information."

…

"So, Norway was right," Russia said.

"It would seem so," General Winter said.

"How many prisoners?"

"At least five."

Russia bit his lip.

"Too many innocents would die if we decide to kill," Russia mused. "We will need to storm the base. And see if we can kill _them_ and rescue their prisoners. But… I think we need to have a meeting with everyone. Could you do that for me?"

The General narrowed his eyes.

"You are pushing my limits," he said. "Very well. But don't expect much more from me for some time."

 **The Michoacán and Quebec scene took longer than I thought it would, but it will be important soon enough.**

 **Faroe, Greenland and Åland are still technically under certain nations' control, and because of that they're still technically Amodi territories, but because they haven't been captured and aren't willing, they can still do whatever they want.**

 **Michoacán runs a cartel, which means she needs to know how people work in order to sense opportunities or danger. She can usually tell when someone's lying to her, but as mentioned, Quebec is hard to read.**


	65. Chapter 64

**Thanks to Star Symphonic, Kattie, Terra, ScandinavianTrash, topaz3, pastaaddict and shoujochan for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 64**

Tokyo was watching the scene with some interest, making sure that his face remained blank. Michoacán was in charge of a cartel, and she was good at seeing through other people.

But Tokyo was as well.

Tokyo kept his connection to the yakuza a secret, even from Japan. That was, after all, what had led him to Amodi, and what made them decide that he would be a good asset. On the condition that he not be involved in whatever they planned to do to Japan.

It wasn't Japan he hated, but rather America. He remembered the bombings during the Second World War, and he also remembered the effects they had on Japan and all of the prefectures, including himself. And he also had a grudge against Hawaii, since it was the bombing of Pearl Harbour that eventually led to America bombing Japan. If Hawaii hadn't crawled to America for help…

But that didn't matter anymore. Hawaii was dead, and he was just waiting for Amodi to destroy America. He was happy serving as a spy for him. He was proof that a smaller personification could do a lot of damage.

Tokyo kept his gaze on whoever was speaking at that point, which further eliminated suspicion. He caught Michoacán glancing at him, and he arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

They were interrupted, however, when one of the Pierres flew in, immediately going towards Picardy. He frowned in concern.

"Pierre Number Five," Picardy said. "What happened to them?"

"There was a plane crash," the Pierre explained. "Those who aren't dead are badly injured, and are close to dying."

Picardy's eyes widened in horror, and he turned to Tokyo.

"Pierre Number Five went to check the status of the Japanese and Chinese," Picardy whispered.

There were collective gasps of horror. Tokyo's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped a little. An act. He had been informed earlier of the others' fate.

But now he knew that there were survivors…

"I… I need to be alone for a while," he said, making a hasty retreat.

He had caught sight of Michoacán's disappointed look, and knew that she had every intention of getting him alone to ask a few questions. But she wouldn't do it now. It would be tasteless.

Though he wasn't sure _why_ she wanted to speak to him. Oh well. He had dodged a bullet.

Once his bedroom door was firmly closed behind him, he smiled darkly. He didn't care about the Chinese provinces. But he was worried about the other prefectures. He still saw them as family. He still cared about them.

But he had gained new information. There were survivors. He contemplated informing San Marino, but thought better of it. If the survivors were his fellow prefectures, then he needed to keep them alive.

No, he _wanted_ to keep them alive.

Amodi never forced its members to do things that they didn't want to do.

…

"Please stop!"

Romania cocked his head to the side, an amused look on his face. Croatia wanted to curl up into a ball, if only he wasn't restrained.

Romania had taken him to a house, murdering the residents with magic before tying Croatia to the dining room table. Romania had gone to the kitchen, only to return with a meat tenderiser, which he used against Croatia.

"Don't tell me that you've already had enough," Romania said, eyes glowing with an insane light. "This is only the first group, after all. Or is 'blunt' not your style? Would you rather I move on to 'sharp'?"

"Please, no more," Croatia said.

"Are you willing to tell me where the others are?"

Croatia sobbed, before he shook his head. Romania chuckled.

"Then it looks like we're moving on to sharp," Romania said.

…

Liechtenstein had a huge smile on her face, Puerto Rico trailing behind her. It had been too easy to enter American soil. And now, she could get to work.

She would find New York, and then they'd get rid of him. And then they'd move on to the other states. She wondered how long it would take America to feel the damage done to them. And she wondered how long it would take him to realise that there were other nations in his land.

"New York should be easy," Liechtenstein said. "He'd still be reeling from that nuclear attack. Not to mention the attack through Operation Parasite."

"So, is that why you decided to come here first?" Puerto Rico asked.

"Of course not. New York's already weakened, and America wouldn't suspect our involvement immediately. After all, New York's days are numbered. The less suspicious he is, the more we can kill before he tries to stop us."

Puerto Rico nodded in understanding. He was really glad that he was on Liechtenstein's side. He didn't want to be her enemy. Especially after she lost her lover.

And he would get a chance to repay America for the way he had been treated. But he knew that this was Liechtenstein's time for revenge. And he would help her to achieve it.

…

"So, Norway could escape?" Bulgaria asked.

Iceland nodded his head.

"Since he's not a nation anymore, he isn't bound by the rules," Iceland said. "He could escape without being killed. He's gone to get some help."

"How'd he know that he could escape?" Bulgaria asked.

Iceland shook his head, not entirely sure how to answer. He didn't quite believe it himself, and he doubted that Bulgaria would. Moldova might, on the other end.

"Will he be alright?" Moldova asked.

"We can only hope," Iceland said. "He's human now, after all. He's not immortal anymore."

"Indeed," a cold voice interrupted.

The three jumped and turned in the direction of the voice. Finland was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and staring at them coldly.

"F-Finland," Iceland said. "H-how long have you been there?"

"The whole time," Finland said, stepping closer. "Now, how did Norway think that he could escape us?"

Iceland didn't answer, and Finland stormed towards him. Iceland cried out in pain when Finland grabbed a fistful of his hair, dragging him into a standing position.

"Don't make me ask again," Finland said. "How did he get the idea?"

Iceland winced in pain, and Finland pulled his head backwards.

"Stop!" Moldova shouted. "Don't hurt him!"

"Shut up!" Finland shouted. "Who gave him the idea?"

"G-ghosts!" Iceland blurted. "H-he said h-he spoke to E-England's ghost."

Finland looked at Iceland with a blank expression on his face.

"Do you _honestly_ expect me to believe that?" Finland asked. "Now, tell me the truth."

"I told you what he told me," Iceland said. "Let go!"

Finland stared at him for a little while longer, eyes narrowed.

"How do I know you're speaking the truth?" Finland said.

"Romania… he went to kill the Yugoslavians," Iceland said. "Didn't he?"

"What?!" Bulgaria shouted, staring at Finland. "Is… is that true?"

Finland stared blankly, before smirking.

"Well, this is interesting," Finland said. "I can't tell if you're lying. And I'm pretty good at it. The fact that you know about Romania's mission is an interesting development. But if you _are_ telling the truth…"

Finland released Iceland's hair, before grabbing his shoulder.

"Where did Norway say that he was going?" Finland asked.

"He didn't want to say," Iceland said. "He knew that you'd be able to tell if I was lying."

"He wasn't wrong," Finland said coldly. "Looks like we have something that needs to be reported to the others. In the meantime, Iceland, you'll need to be punished."

"W-what? W-why?"

"For not stopping your _dear_ older brother. And this is also part of Norway's own punishment for leaving."

"No!" Bulgaria shouted. "Don't hurt him!"

"Oh, I won't," Finland said, hand returning to Iceland's hair. "Not physically, at least."

"No!" Moldova shouted. "Please!"

"Shut up!" Finland shouted. "Unless you want me to punish _you_ as well."

The two Eastern Europeans flinched, and Finland smirked, dragging his fellow Northern European away.

"W-what are you going to do?" Iceland asked in concern.

"Did you know that there are five basic groups of torture?" Finland asked cheerfully. "Blunt, sharp, hot, cold and loud. I know you won't really be affected by hot and cold, and sharp is so boring. Blunt… it can be tiring. So I have to go with loud."

"W-what?"

Finland turned to Iceland, a smile on his face. It caused a shudder to race down Iceland's spine.

Finland unlocked a door that had been kept locked the whole time, dragging Iceland inside. And what was inside wasn't what he expected.

The room looked as though it had been soundproofed, with some of the highest quality speakers around. It actually looked like a decent place to listen to music. What Iceland found the most confusing, though, was the fact that there were many music players. And in the centre of the room was a chair with straps.

Iceland was pushed into the chair, his wrists and ankles strapped to it. He looked at Finland with worry. Finland grabbed a blindfold and tied it over Iceland's eyes.

"I want to make sure that you can hear everything perfectly," Finland said.

"What are you doing?" Iceland asked in a panic.

"What is one of the things my country is known for?" Finland asked.

Iceland was quiet. The first thing that came to mind was Finland's love for saunas, but he knew that that wasn't what Finland had in mind. So he had to think further.

His mind started to wander, and he thought of the sound equipment of the room. Sound… Music…

"Metal," Iceland whispered.

"That's right," Finland said. "Many different types of metal. Can you identify them all… when they're all playing at the same time?"

Iceland gasped, and the music had been turned on. A lot of different songs. At the same time. At a loud volume.

Iceland screamed as the music started to make him feel as though fingers were digging into his brain. He wondered if his eardrums would be able to handle the abuse.

…

The Asians and Netherlands all looked up when they received a sudden guest while sitting in the living room. Everyone, except for China, immediately recognised General Winter.

"Hello again," Japan greeted. "Is Russia already finished with the schematics?"

"Da," the General said. "But I'm not here for that. He wanted me to bring you all to his base. It's time for you to have a meeting."

The others exchanged a look.

"I agree," Netherlands said. "This isolation isn't doing any of us any favours."

"And we might _actually_ find a way to fight back," Vietnam said. "This is just what we need to do."

China rubbed his chest, nodding his head.

"I'm tired of just sitting here helpless," China said. "I want to do something."

"We all do," Taiwan said. "We all want to stop this before anyone else gets hurt."

"Then brace yourselves," the General said. "Because you're in for a few surprises."

…

"Are you serious?" Poland asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Vlad's not here," Finland said. "I can't ask him."

Finland had called Poland to report about Norway's escape, and Iceland's claim that ghosts were involved. Everyone had received a notification to inform them that Poland was back at the base and available, and that it would be preferable to call _him_ if something came up.

Italy had been the one playing leader for most of the time, and he was starting to get bogged down by everything. Poland just wanted to take some of the pressure off his lover's shoulders.

Then there was the fact that Poland felt that he hadn't really been taking his role as leader too seriously and wanted to make up for it.

"And Egypt's a little preoccupied with Greece at the moment," Poland said. "Which just leaves Wales."

"Then let's hope he knows," Finland said.

"Right. And I need to alert everyone. If we're planning on having dissolved prisoners, we need to make sure they can't escape. He said he doesn't know where his _big brother_ is heading?"

"No clue. And I could tell that he wasn't lying."

"Then I'll ask Wales to track him down. Keep me posted, alright?"

"Understood."

Poland hung up the phone, before making his way to Wales's room. The Welshman was sleeping, and though it wouldn't be a good idea to disturb him, Poland didn't have much of a choice at the moment.

Poland cleared his throat, and Wales's eyes snapped open. Wales turned to him, a questioning look on his face.

"Sorry to bother you," Poland said. "But I have a few questions."

"Ask away," Wales said.

"Is it possible for dead nations to contact the living?"

"Why don't you ask Italy that one? According to England, whenever they fought the Axis on the island, they were usually interrupted by the Roman Empire. But yes, it is possible, provided the two have some form of connection, and a significant amount of magic or psychic potential."

"Damn," Poland said. "And this was an excellent time to find out that prisoners that had been stripped of nationhood have the ability to escape from us without getting killed."

Wales stared at Poland for a moment.

"Who escaped?" Wales asked.

"Norway. He's apparently been in contact with England."

Wales's face darkened.

"You think he's going to the enemy to tell them about us?" Wales asked.

"Depends," Poland said. "How much information could he have gained?"

"Everything. The dead can see everything that's happening. And if England conveyed information to Norway, then Norway knows everything."

Poland frowned.

"I want you to trace him," he said.

"Understood."

…

Ukraine was watching over Norway as he slept. She could clearly see that he had gone through a lot emotionally, and also some physically. He seemed so fragile. So broken.

Her maternal instincts were all screaming at her to protect him, and she had every intention to do that.

He was resting to regain his strength, but also to see if England would contact him again. With the meeting approaching, it would be best to have all the information, just in case something had been neglected last time.

She just hoped that it wasn't draining his energy. And she hoped that they could use the information that he provided them to finally bring an end to this war, before anyone else has to die.

…

The South Americans had returned to their carnage throughout Central America. Chile had gone to Haiti.

He chuckled when he opened the door, wondering how he could be so stupid to not lock the door. But his smile fell once he saw why. Because it wasn't necessary.

Haiti was hanging from a rope around his neck. He was pale, and rigor mortis had settled in quite a while ago. He had been there for quite some time.

Chile saw that there was a piece of paper clenched in his fist, and he approached the corpse, removing the paper. He frowned when he saw that it appeared to be a letter.

 _I'll die on my own terms. My successor is safe. You will never find her._

Chile scowled, crumpling the letter. Haiti had denied him a kill. And what's worse, he had already gotten a successor, which he believed to be safe.

This could prove complicated.

Not to mention, Italy wouldn't be happy to hear about this.

…

"Put me down!" Afghanistan screamed, while Pakistan just watched with a sweatdrop.

General Winter had arrived, asking them to go with him to Russia's place. And of course, Afghanistan refused, which prompted the General to throw her over his shoulder, bringing forth the kicking and screaming woman.

"Will you come?" the General asked, looking at Pakistan.

Pakistan nodded, not wanting to be manhandled. He went towards the General, making sure to avoid Afghanistan's legs, and he suddenly felt as though he was caught in a flurry.

…

Herzegovina kept looking out the window, a frown on her face. She eventually turned to Bosnia, and he sighed.

"I'm not in the mood for an argument, so look elsewhere," he said.

"That's not it," she said. "Don't you think that Croatia's been gone too long?"

"He's probably taking full advantage of the privacy afforded to him. I wouldn't be too worried."

"I hope you're right," she said.

…

Romania had left the room for a while, and Croatia was trying to catch his breath. There were several cuts along his body; deep enough to hurt, but shallow enough to prevent him from passing out.

Croatia tried desperately to remember what the next group was of the torture methods, only to come up blank. But he knew that it would be more than painful.

Romania returned, and Croatia tried to see what he carried in his hand. He saw a frying pan, and at first he would have believed it to be just that, but he had already suffered through blunt. But upon seeing the oven mitts that Romania wore, he remembered that the next group was _hot_.

"Before we began with sharp, I placed this on the stove at its highest setting," Romania said. "Be a good boy and scream for me."

And Croatia did just that when Romania pressed the hot frying pan against his cheek.

…

Everyone in Andorra's house jumped when there was suddenly someone else in the room with them. Someone who looked fairly irritated.

The nations instinctively took a battle stance, while the vast majority of the regions shrank back, aware that they would be weaker in a fight.

"Don't make this harder for me," the stranger snapped. "Russia wants you for a meeting."

"Russia?" America asked. "Oh, wait, I know you…"

"Does he want _all_ of us?" Andorra interrupted.

The stranger looked around the room, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Only the nations," he said. "I am getting tired of transporting everyone across nations."

"Understood," Michoacán said. "I'll stay here, for the time being."

"No," America said. "I want you to come with us. You've been involved almost from the start, and there's no way you're getting left out."

"Plus she has a good head on her shoulders," Jordan muttered.

"And I'll go as well," Andorra said. "I _am_ a nation, after all."

"Very well," the stranger said. "Now, come with me."

 **I realised that Italy's the one playing leader most of the time, leaving Poland out. So Poland's taking over the role for a little while.**


	66. Chapter 65

**Thanks to Kattie, Elsa, shoujochan, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 65**

Tokyo left his room, completely composed. He listened for a moment, making sure that no one was on their way to check on him or something. And to make sure that Quebec was still alone. After confirming that everyone was still in the living room, he went to Quebec's room.

As soon as he saw him, Quebec immediately became tense, and he even backed up a little on his bed. Tokyo stared at him with a cold expression.

"What _exactly_ did you say to Michoacán?" Tokyo asked.

"Rien," Quebec whispered. "Je n'ai rien dit…"

"I don't speak French," Tokyo snapped.

"I-I didn't say anything. J-just that y-you f-found m-me when I-I w-was l-lost a-around h-here. That's what y-you told me t-to s-say."

Tokyo scoffed.

"Then a red flag might have been raised simply by you saying that _I_ found you," Tokyo said. "I…"

He stopped right there, hearing footsteps approaching. Quebec could hear them too, and he seemed to calm slightly. Tokyo smoothed his face into his mask.

Soon after, Basque came into view, an eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing here?" Basque asked, looking specifically at Tokyo.

"I just wanted to see if he's doing alright," Tokyo said. "I feel responsible for bringing him here, after all."

Basque pursed his lips together.

"But are _you_ alright?" Basque asked. "After the news about your family…"

Tokyo averted his gaze.

"It is… regrettable," Tokyo said. "But I cannot let it affect me too much. We are in the middle of a war, after all. There will be time to mourn them when it's all over."

"When it's all over," Basque muttered. "I hope it comes soon. Anyway, why don't the two of you join us downstairs?"

Quebec looked startled at the invitation, but nodded his head. Tokyo clenched his fist, though kept his face blank.

"Very well," Tokyo said.

Tokyo waited for Quebec to leave first before following after. He was growing concerned about Quebec. He was recovering, and becoming more vocal. It could prove disastrous. Especially if he was starting to feel attached to the other regions, who Amodi planned to kill.

That might just cause Quebec to have a change of heart. To want to _save_ those that were kind to him. Not that he could, mind you. He was still too weak to be able to do anything.

He should have asked Canada if it was alright for him to kill Quebec. After all, his only use was as a distraction. But he was a poor distraction. And now that Michoacán had confirmed that he wasn't a threat, he wouldn't be under suspicion anymore.

And they might become suspicious of Tokyo.

Upon arrival at the living room, Tokyo immediately noticed that it was a lot emptier than it had been when he left.

"What happened to America and the others?" Tokyo asked.

"They left," Catalonia said. "Apparently, Russia sent General Winter to get them to attend a meeting."

"I see," Tokyo said calmly, though inside he had started to panic.

He had already messaged Canada to inform him that Michoacán was there. And Canada would be coming with Egypt as soon as possible. And with magic, that meant that they were most likely almost there.

He'd have to think of a plan.

"I'll be right back," Tokyo said. "I suddenly need to use the bathroom…"

Tokyo made a hasty retreat, indeed going to the bathroom. But once the door was closed, he pulled out his cell phone, which he made sure was always hidden from the others. He knew that it would be too risky to call, so he started typing a message to Canada.

 _General Winter came. They're having a meeting with Russia. She's gone._

He didn't wait too long for the reply.

 _Stay close to Quebec. I have a feeling that they will return._

 _And what should I do with him?_

 _If it comes to it, kill him. He's no longer useful._

Tokyo smirked. Another message arrived from Canada.

 _We'll come anyway. And we'll wait patiently._

 _Understood._

Tokyo placed the phone back in its hiding place, and he flushed the toilet in order to keep up appearances. He returned to the living room, joining the others again. But he made sure to stick close to Quebec. And the Canadian was _very_ aware of the other's presence.

…

"They've a meeting with Russia," Canada muttered. "It seems they're using our methods to get around."

"It's annoying when the enemies do that," Egypt said. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I think we'll change Greece's soundtrack. And then we go and wait in Andorra's backyard."

"You think they'll return?"

"My intuition tells me so."

"Very well then. I guess we'll listen to your intuition."

…

Norway was both surprised and happy when he saw how many allies they had. But he wasn't the only one surprised.

"I thought they couldn't escape from Amodi?" Andorra asked.

"Any _nation_ ," Norway said. "I'm no longer a nation. Their magic no longer affects me."

"Really?" America asked excitedly. "So, if they're just not nations anymore, then we can save them?"

"You can save the personification," Norway said. "The land will still belong to them. And trust me, it's not an existence I'd recommend. You lose yourself. Thousands, if not millions, of voices suddenly disappear. For the first time, you know what it's like to _really_ be alone. You have no purpose left. Nothing to live for. And nothing to bring you back if you decide to end it all."

The others were silent as they let the information sink in. Russia cleared his throat.

"Norway has apparently been in contact with England's ghost," Russia said. "And England told him a lot of useful information."

"That's impossible!" Turkey shouted.

"Not quite," Japan said. "During World War Two, we had a few visits from the Roman Empire. We were actually discussing trying to contact one of the dead nations as well. It's quite fortunate that they were ahead of us."

Norway looked over at Russia.

"I don't see the Yugoslavians here," Norway said.

"I've sent General Winter ahead to get them," Russia said. "Though it's odd that they're not here yet."

…

"What do you mean, we're in danger?" Slovenia asked.

"Romania is on his way to kill you," General Winter said. "So come with me if you want to survive."

"I don't believe that," Slovenia said. "How would they even know where to find us?"

"They are very resourceful."

The other Yugoslavians were watching this scene, and some of them were starting to grow worried.

"Croatia's been gone for quite some time now," Serbia said. "He should have been back by now."

Slovenia rounded on him, a furious look on his face, but his eyes looked alarmed.

"He hasn't been gone for that long," Slovenia said, as though he was trying to convince himself. "You're just paranoid because _he_ said we're in danger."

"He's been gone a few hours," Bosnia said. "He _should_ have been back now."

"He's fine," Slovenia muttered. "He's fine. He's fine. He's…"

"Stop trying to fool yourself," Serbia snapped. "If Romania's really on his way and he happened to run into Croatia…"

"Shut up!" Slovenia snapped. "He's not in danger! He can't be…"

Slovenia sank to his knees, trembling slightly. And without a doubt, it was clear that his denial was an attempt to hide his panic. And no one could blame him.

"We'll go look for him," Macedonia suggested. "And we'll all meet back here in two hours."

"And if he comes back?" Montenegro asked.

"I'll stay," Kosovo offered. "If he comes back, I'll just tell him that we got news that Romania is coming."

"He'll feel guilty that he made us worried," Herzegovina said.

"And it would be well-deserved," Bosnia said.

"Slovenia," Serbia said, "this is your land. Try to see if you can sense them."

Slovenia nodded mutely.

"Why don't we just use _that_?" Montenegro asked. "Wouldn't it be easier?"

"It depends on how long Romania's been in the country," Macedonia said. "The longer he's been here, the easier it is to pin him down. If he's only been here a short time, then only the city can be sensed."

"And if he focuses on Croatia?"

"I'll probably be able to do that," Slovenia muttered. "Or… No…"

The last word had been spoken in a whisper, and the others turned to him.

"What's wrong?" Herzegovina asked.

"I… I can't pin down Croatia's location," Slovenia whispered. "Just… Just that he's with… With Romania…"

"Shit!" Serbia exclaimed. "So we were right?! Shit, shit, shit…"

"Language," Montenegro said, glancing towards Kosovo.

"Actually, I'm glad he said it," Kosovo said. "If _he_ didn't, then _I_ would've."

They weren't exactly reassured by the youngest's words.

"Let's look for them," Serbia said. "If we're not back in two hours… Slovenia, you'd be able to search for us?"

"Yeah," Slovenia said.

"Then let's go. I just hope that we find Croatia before it's too late."

…

"Alright then," Norway said. "England managed to fill me in on everything you've been up to, as well as everything Amodi's been up to."

"It's still unbelievable," Turkey scoffed.

"Alright then. When you went to Lebanon's place, you found Egypt and Canada there. They offered a trade: Lebanon for Greece."

Lebanon shifted nervously in her seat.

"What?!" America exclaimed. "Dude, how could you do that?!"

"I knew they had no intention of killing him," Turkey said. "So I did what I had to do in order to save someone. Greece understands."

"For now," Norway said. "There's no telling how long _that_ will last."

"What do you mean?"

"They took him to what they call the 'Washroom'. It's probably worse than any torture chamber they have. The room is designed for the sole purpose of brainwashing someone. Monitors with subliminal imagery, occasionally shifting the colours for a brief moment to trigger a response in the brain, with sound equipment that also works on a subliminal level. The victim is then tied to a device that monitors their pulse, and if it drops below a certain level it will send a jolt, preventing the victim from falling asleep."

"Fatigue makes brainwashing easier," China muttered.

"The room is also completely soundproofed, and the only interactions Greece has are with Canada and Egypt, and it's not that often."

"Isolation makes brainwashing easier as well," Russia said.

"Should we be worried about you two?" America asked.

"Don't even start," Michoacán said. "I know for a _fact_ that you're familiar with brainwashing methods as well, 'hero'."

America pouted, but gestured for Norway to continue.

"England is convinced that the black ribbons that Amodi uses are also useful for brainwashing," Norway said. "That's how they got Wales, for example."

" _Wales_?" Hungary repeated.

"You mean, England's _brother_?" Taiwan asked.

"England himself admitted that he gave Wales enough reason to hate him," Norway said. "He was abusive towards his brother, and Amodi exploited the past abuse. The ribbons also caused old wounds to open up – literally – and when he was given permission to kill his brothers, he did so with gusto."

"That's twisted," America said.

"And that's why they did it. Amodi doesn't settle for simplicity. They want to make things as cruel as possible."

"Their arrogance will be their downfall," China said. "We'll make sure of it."

"It's more than just simple arrogance," Norway said. "One of the reasons why they do it is for the event that their victim manages to escape, like me. They intend to break you. Tear you apart. And if you escape, you're traumatised by the mental torture they inflicted on you. And for them, physical torture is just a means to an end."

Lebanon whimpered, hugging herself.

"How much torture did they inflict on you?" Japan asked.

"They stripped me of my status as nation," Norway said. "They killed two of my oldest and closest friends, and a third one betrayed us. The only reason I was kept alive was to keep my brother in check, and it was the condition he gave before he allowed himself to become annexed by them. My brother lost his freedom in an attempt to save my life, and they made sure that I knew that. They also killed my royal family, making me watch it on the TV. They didn't even allow me to go there myself. And the worst part was the fact that I couldn't even feel their deaths at all. In comparison, the only physical torture I went through was thanks to the potion they used to strip me of my nationhood."

The others were silent as they absorbed the information.

"They torture Portugal by having his former colonies as fellow prisoners," Norway continued, to which Netherlands and China clenched their fists. "They also made sure that he's bound by the yellow ribbon in his desire to protect them."

"A _yellow_ ribbon?" Vietnam asked.

"Red means love, black means hate, and yellow is desire. That's how they got the micronations: through their desire to become nations. Anyway, they like to constantly remind Portugal that he's bound to them as well. And he can sense if a member of Amodi is killed, just like the rest of them."

"They make him feel like he actually _did_ join them," China said. "Bastards."

"They tortured England by having the gentlest of his brothers be his murderer," Norway continued. "And by having the other brothers tortured and killed in front of him. They tortured Ivory Coast physically, and the mental torture came in where he was used to convince his friends to submit to them. They tortured Germany through partitions. They tortured Spain by having his former colonies kill him. And the list goes on."

"They're crazy," Thailand said.

"No kidding," Yemen added.

"This is all just messed up," America said.

"They even tortured one of their own provinces in the same way," Norway said, "while killing all of the others."

"Quebec," Michoacán said. "On that note, I want to know if I was right: Is he harmless?"

"Completely. His sole purpose is to redirect attention from their actual spy."

"What?!" Andorra demanded. "What do you mean, 'actual spy'?"

"They knew that he would be suspicious to you, so they sent him along. And their spy keeps an eye on you, as well as him."

"And _who_ is the spy?!"

Norway hesitated, glancing towards Japan.

"It's Tokyo," Norway said.

…

Greece struggled against his bonds. Egypt had gone a bit too far.

The music, which had become mind-numbing, had been replaced with an audio documentary of the Greco-Turkish War.

…

"I think you're right," Egypt said. "I think they _will_ come back."

Canada smiled.

"I might not have magic," Canada said, "but I've managed to pick up a thing or two."

The two of them were in Andorra's backyard, _waiting_ for their enemies to return so that they could attack. Or at the very least, capture the one that they intended to punish.

…

"Please stop," Croatia whispered. "Please. I'm begging you."

"Your begging will get you nowhere," Romania said. "But it's entertaining. You may continue."

Croatia sobbed, his body in pain. The only spot on his body that hadn't suffered from the torture was his back, and only because he was lying on it. Between the meat tenderiser, the knife and the frying pan, there wasn't anything that _didn't_ hurt, except of course the back.

"I think it's time to move on to cold," Romania said idly. "Wait here while I get it ready."

With that final piece of mockery Romania left, and Croatia slumped thankfully. It was a brief respite, but it was something nonetheless. And he was sure that it couldn't be worse than what he'd already been forced to endure.

It took Romania a while to return, and Croatia had just started to doze off. But of course, _that_ was when Romania entered the room again. He tutted at Croatia mockingly.

"Already tired?" Romania asked. "But we still have one more group to do. Don't worry. This one will be special."

Croatia's stomach dropped, and it didn't help when Romania started to untie him. What could Romania have devised that required them to change their location?

Romania tied the Croatian's wrists behind his back, and proceeded to drag him further into the house. Croatia tried to struggle, but everything hurt too much. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get away, so his only hope was to delay the inevitable.

Romania dragged him into the bathroom. Croatia's eyes immediately fell on the bathtub, completely filled. And he knew what Romania intended to do with him.

"I was worried that the water wouldn't be cold enough," Romania said. "So I used a little magic on it to make it as cold as the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Oh, and one more thing. Thanks to all the torture I've made you go through, plus something I slipped in during 'sharp', if you should die here, you won't wake up again."

Croatia could do nothing as Romania threw him into the tub, the cold water completely enveloping him. And Romania made sure that his head remained under the water.

Croatia's mouth automatically opened in a gasp of shock, as the cold water made his nerves enter a temporary lockdown. He could also feel the shock going straight to his heart, and once his nerves recovered slightly he started to struggle, desperate to regain air and to escape the horrible feeling of his body tensing up, refusing to function properly.

Romania's words repeated in his head, and despair filled his heart.

…

"What?" Japan asked. "You're… You're saying that _Tokyo_ …?"

"Dammit!" Michoacán exclaimed. "I _thought_ something about it sounded fishy. I should have questioned him when I had the chance."

"We need to get to the others," Andorra said. "We can't leave them alone with Tokyo."

"Will General Winter help?" Ukraine asked, looking at Russia.

"I don't think so," Russia said. "He's very annoyed right now."

"I can use my magic," Norway said. "Though, it's weaker than it used to be, since I no longer have the land to aid me. I managed to recover, though, so it should be possible, but I can only take a few of you."

"A few is all you will need," Japan said, and though his face didn't reveal it, his voice was filled with anger. "Do you have anything else to say before we end this meeting?"

"Ja," Norway said. "A nation under Amodi's control has a small window of opportunity to escape when a member of Amodi is killed."

"Then looks like we have a new goal," America said. "We finally know how to fight back."

 **The cold water was my sister's suggestion, though I managed to freak her out when I accidentally implied that I would** _ **actually**_ **go through with it, or that I was giving advice to someone else that would do it, and not that it was part of a work of fiction I'm working on. And my sister's not someone that freaks out easily. We were discussing making the water colder, and we suggested ice cubes, and I absentmindedly muttered 'hopefully there'll be enough ice cubes'. I also didn't specify before I said it that it was for the chapter I'm working on, and she did assume that it was for something fictional, and then I went and said** _ **that.**_ **Then I remembered that Romania could just use magic to make the water colder.**


	67. Chapter 66

**Thanks to Kattie, Terra, Sevanadium14, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, teabrows, TooShyToReview and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 66**

Iceland gasped in relief when the music stopped. He whimpered when his eyes were exposed to the light, making his headache worsen.

"There now," Finland said. "All finished. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Iceland tried to glare, but even _that_ hurt. Finland ignored the attempted glare, working on freeing the Icelander from his bonds, before helping him outside the room.

Once outside, Finland locked the door again before leaving Iceland. Iceland sighed in relief, recognising the dismissal. Finland was satisfied with his punishment, and Iceland was free to do whatever he wanted, as long as it didn't break any rules.

Iceland tried to walk to his bedroom, but he found himself to be disoriented. But once he reached the room he sighed in relief, before making his way to the bed, collapsing onto it immediately.

He needed to sleep. He needed to recover.

…

In the end, the ones that went with Norway were America, Japan, Andorra, Russia and China. Turkey, as one of the other leaders, had been put in charge of the other nations, at least until the others returned.

…

"Why the _hell_ am I here?" Afghanistan asked.

Uzbekistan patted her on the head, smirking lightly. The Afghan currently had her head resting on the table, but she could recognise the mocking gesture.

"Because you're against Amodi," Kazakhstan said, a smirk on her own face.

"And what? It's 'either you're with us or against us'?"

"Not at all," Turkey said.

Afghanistan lifted her head, glaring at him slightly.

"If you're neither with us nor against us, then you're most likely dead," Turkey said. "So we're the best hope you have of surviving."

"And how's that working out?" Afghanistan asked dryly.

"Before I came, mass suicide," Kazakhstan said. "There's still a lot of suicide in my country, but at least they're no longer happening at the same time and place."

"I managed to escape Egypt with just a gunshot wound," Oman said.

"Same here," Yemen said. "And if America and Michoacán weren't with us, at least one of us would probably be dead."

Afghanistan was quite for a moment, before her face once again made contact with the table. Pakistan sighed.

"I think her biggest problem is aligning herself with America and Russia," Pakistan said. "And because things haven't been working out."

"Well, none of us are unfamiliar with war," Vietnam pointed out. "And when has it ever worked out well in the beginning? At least for the one being attacked."

"She has a point," Thailand said. "Asides from a few differences, this war is just like any other."

"Oh really?" Afghanistan asked. "And what are the differences?"

"This war is proceeding faster than the others," Netherlands said. "And the nations themselves are immediately targeted. Amodi has the advantage because they were _prepared_ for a war like this. We weren't. But we're starting to adapt. And the only way to do that is to be with allies to adapt with you."

Afghanistan had lifted her head while Netherlands had been speaking, but immediately lowered it again.

"I hate it when other people are right," she muttered.

…

Tibet and Hong Kong turned to Laos when he suddenly shuddered violently, eyes wide in worry.

"What's up?" Hong Kong asked.

"Italy's going to be mad again," Laos said simply.

…

"Well?" Poland asked.

He and Wales had a world map opened in front of them, and Wales was using a crystal to try to find Norway. The crystal landed on Russia, and the two exchanged a nervous look.

"This is bad," Wales said.

"I'll say," Poland said. "Looks like we get to send Antarctica after all."

The crystal moved, distracting the two. Wales stared at it for a moment.

"What's in Andorra?" he asked.

Poland's face darkened.

"A new headache," he said.

…

The regions all looked up when they suddenly had six nations in their midst. They smiled when they saw that they were allies.

"Back so soon?" Picardy asked.

"Norway?!" Faroe exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet and taking a step closer.

Tokyo moved to stand behind the couch where Quebec was sitting, keeping his eyes on everyone, particularly Japan. And after a moment of searching, the nations' eyes fixed on him.

"We found out that Amodi _did_ send a spy, but it wasn't Quebec, like we suspected," Andorra said. "Care to explain yourself, Tokyo?"

The regions gasped, turning to Tokyo. His eyes widened slightly in mock surprise.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Don't," Japan said, taking a step forward. "Do you hate me so much that you'd be willing to join them?"

"I don't hate _you_ ," Tokyo snapped. "I hate _him_ ," he added, staring pointedly at America.

" _Me_?" America asked. "What did _I_ do?"

"You're the one that made Japan open up his borders, corrupting our society. We were doing just fine without you! And then you had the audacity to use that bomb on Japan. We all felt the effects, and we all had to take care of him. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were never the same after that."

"Don't pretend that you're doing this because you care about Japan," China said. "What about the others on their way here? Would you really allow Amodi to do something like that?"

"Amodi had nothing to do with it. They were caught in a storm, and that was that. Any flight they had boarded would be risky. Satellites are down, so they couldn't check the weather. There _are_ survivors, but depending on their injuries, they might not last long. Especially if India sends some of his people to look for them. They're in enemy territory, and they can't even ask for help."

"And you just _allow_ this?" Japan demanded.

"I get to see America fall!" Tokyo shouted. "I get to see a new world order being created. And I will get more land when this is over. I won't actively take part in the murder of Japan or my fellow prefectures, but I won't stop them. You've become weak, Japan. And the other nations are the reason for it."

"You are wrong," Japan said. "I am strong _because_ of my connection with other nations. They did not make me weak."

Tokyo shook his head.

"I just wanted things to stay the way they were," Tokyo said. "I've accepted a long time ago that that would never happen. At least, not while you live. I would allow them to make that change."

"It's insane," America said. "You keep contradicting yourself."

"It's not his fault," Norway said. "The black ribbon brainwashes everyone bound by it."

"Not everyone."

Everyone, asides from Tokyo, turned to the door, where they saw Egypt and Canada leaning casually against the doorframe.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Andorra demanded, taking a nervous step back. "How'd you get in my house?"

"You really should lock your backdoor," Canada said casually.

"It's true, the black ribbon has _some_ amount of brainwashing," Egypt said. "But not in the traditional sense. It simply combines all the hate that is connected to it, and shares it among everyone, until nothing else remains."

"That's sick!" America shouted. "How can you live like that, _knowing_ what it does to you?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Tokyo demanded. "We don't _care._ "

"Some of us didn't care _before_ we were bound by it," Canada said. "Even without it, we still had a substantial amount of anger and hatred. A berserker attitude. It was the _one_ thing I inherited from the Nordics."

"What?" Norway asked.

"Are you really telling me that you don't remember Vinland? Granted, I was violent _before_ you came, but I developed a little more nastiness when you left. Abandoned me. Don't worry, though. I don't blame you for that. It was that hatred that attracted the attention of Amodi. And besides, I think you're already suffering through something far worse than I could think of."

Norway took a nervous step back, while America took a step forward.

"Mattie, for what it's worth, I'm sorry," America said.

"What are you prattling about _now_?" Canada asked.

"About overshadowing you. Making you invisible. I don't think your mask extended that far, right? You meant to be quiet and unassuming. And people often forgot you existed."

Canada ground his teeth.

"And you think I'd _accept_ your 'apology'?" Canada bit back. "That you say sorry, and everything's fine and dandy?"

"No," America said. "I have no hope of you and I ever being friends. Just thought I'd get that out of the way."

Canada laughed bitterly.

"In other words, you just wanted to get rid of your guilt," Canada said. "That selfishness of yours will be your downfall."

"Then come at me, _bro_ ," America said coldly.

Canada shook his head.

"Sorry, but I don't want Liechtenstein mad at me," Canada said.

"Liechtenstein?" Japan asked.

"Didn't you hear? America is responsible for Molossia's death. He was Liechtenstein's lover. Another thing about the Bonds you need to understand. We're filled with so much hate, that the only thing that keeps us sane is the presence of love. As you probably know, that has its own ribbons. We make sure to have as many members in love as possible. And then America went and killed Liechtenstein's love. Now, she doesn't care about anything other than revenge. I'd be surprised if anything's left of America when she's done."

"And what is she planning to do?" America demanded.

Canada shrugged.

"Didn't bother to ask," he said. "But we've got more important business. Where's Michoacán?"

"She didn't come back with us," America said. "Once we learned about your spy, we came to stop him."

"Stop me from doing _what_ , exactly?" Tokyo asked.

The regions had steadily been moving away from Tokyo, except for Quebec, who was trembling violently with his eyes closed.

"We already knew about this little gathering," Egypt said. "Which is why we sent Quebec along with Tokyo. He's an excellent liar, but he's still young. He needed a distraction."

"Quebec?" Madeira whispered.

Canada walked closer, placing his hand on Quebec's head. The province flinched harshly, whimpering slightly.

"I see you have a voice now," Canada remarked coldly.

"Leave him alone!" America shouted.

"Why do _you_ care what I do with _my_ province?" Canada asked.

"What you did to him… It's _wrong_!"

" _You_ want to lecture _me_ about what's wrong? Tell me, what happened in 1812 with York?"

America was silent, and Canada continued.

"And let's not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tokyo already mentioned that he hated you for it. For what you did to his family. And he's willing to sacrifice that family if it means he gets to see your downfall. You were hailed as a _hero_ because you managed to get the last member of the Axis to surrender by inflicting so much damage. And it's disgusting that even Japan forgave you for it. You've done a lot of things, America. To nations, your own people, the people of _other_ nations… All because you think it's your manifest destiny to 'save' the world. How much did you screw up the Middle East? Look at what you did to Liechtenstein. And you think _we're_ the villains here? We're cruel. Ruthless. We'll do anything to make sure that we win. And _we_ admit it. We don't try to justify our actions. We don't make excuses. We take full responsibility for our actions."

America was struck silent. Russia cleared his throat.

"You don't seem shy about blaming others as the reason for your actions," Russia pointed out.

"Oh, did you think we became unhinged on our own?" Egypt asked. "That we were born monsters or something? Newsflash: someone did us wrong, and someone else offered to make things right. And we're willing to see the downfall of whoever did us wrong, even if we don't actively participate in it. We're a group, and we take care of each other, allowing those with their own vendettas to do things any way they want. Some don't care _how_ it happens. Even if they don't do it themselves."

"Mexico and Confederacy, as well as myself, are more than happy to let Liechtenstein do what she wants to America's land," Canada said. "And we're willing to take scraps."

"And we're more than willing to put ourselves on the line," Egypt said. "Unless you've forgotten North Korea's actions?"

America, China and Japan flinched. Oh, they remembered it clearly.

"Since Michoacán isn't here, I suppose we have nothing to do here," Canada said. "Tokyo, if you would be so kind?"

Canada stepped back, and Tokyo nodded his head. Quebec's eyes widened.

"Non," he whimpered, before he dove away.

Tokyo cursed, glaring at Quebec. Canada just stared coldly.

"Looks like he's developed reflexes," Canada said.

"What the hell?!" America demanded, walking closer until he was standing in front of Quebec. "What do you think you're doing?"

"He's outlived his usefulness," Canada said simply.

"And you're going to just _kill_ him?"

"He's been living on borrowed time for several decades now. In the condition he's in, we'd be doing him a favour."

"Bastard. You'd be willing to do it to your own _kid_?"

"And what have you done to your 'children' during the Civil War? What made them side with Confederacy? And, for that matter, what did you do to Confederacy? You seemed surprised to find out that she's still alive."

America bit his lip. Canada shook his head, before he pulled out his gun.

"I'm doing what should have been done years ago," Canada said.

"No!" America shouted, before he lunged at Canada.

…

Kosovo was getting a little antsy. He hoped that the others were alright, and that they found Croatia in one piece.

He jumped when he heard the front door fly open, and he ran towards it. He stopped at the doorway to the entrance hall, eyes widening. Standing in the middle of the room was Romania, with Croatia slung over his shoulder.

"What, just you?" Romania asked. "Did the others go out?"

Romania dropped Croatia to the floor, and Kosovo let out a stifled cry when he saw the other clearly. And he could see that Croatia wasn't breathing.

"He was a lot of fun," Romania said. "The way he screamed… And when I drowned him, he was so desperate to get away. But then he just… gave up. I want to say that he was crying, but it's really hard to tell when they're underwater."

Kosovo felt sick. Croatia was… _dead_ , and Romania was treating it like some sort of game.

"You're going to entertain me now, aren't you?" Romania asked.

Kosovo snapped his attention away from Croatia's body, seeing the anticipation on Romania's face.

"You'll keep me busy until the others come back," Romania said.

Kosovo gasped, and the moment when Romania took a step forward Kosovo shot off, running away. He could hear the other's mocking voice.

"Looks like we're playing tag," Romania said. "Or is it hide-and-seek? Either way, looks like I'm 'it'. And you better hope that I don't catch you."

…

America grunted, colliding with the couch, but at least he managed to tackle Canada to the ground. Canada let out a cry, and the gun was dropped.

Everyone decided to move at that moment. Japan moved towards Tokyo, and China helped Quebec get away, before handing him over to Catalonia. The regions then scattered, thinking that it would be easier to find a place to hide.

Egypt had pulled out his own gun, unnoticed by anyone, and managed to shoot one of the regions in the back. Everyone ducked at the sound of the gunshot, but no one saw who was shot as they made their escape, allowing the body to land unnoticed on the floor.

Egypt smiled at the small victory, before turning his attention to Norway. But before he could take aim, Russia moved in in front of Norway.

"You need to get through _me_ , da?" Russia said, cold smile on his face.

Egypt glared at the large Russian, and the latter's smile widened.

"You can't kill me," Russia said. "Not without making someone else mad."

"Unfortunately, you're right," Egypt said. "Doesn't mean I can't injure you."

Russia's smile fell, and Egypt aimed for the larger nation's shoulder. Russia grunted as the bullet made contact, digging into the flesh.

"Norway, get to safety," Russia said.

Norway hastily nodded, before following the regions' lead. Russia hissed in pain, removing his bloody hand from his shoulder.

"I've heard of those bullets," Russia said. "I see they weren't kidding."

Egypt shrugged, before aiming for someone else. China cried out in pain as he was shot in his thigh, and he dove behind an armchair.

Egypt chuckled, before his eyes widened, and he let out a cry of pain. His black ribbon became visible, and Canada's cry of pain could also be heard.

Everyone turned to the two Japanese personifications, and they saw Japan staring coldly at Tokyo, his katana buried in the other's chest.

"For your dishonourable actions," Japan said, "you deserve death."

Tokyo was staring up at Japan with wide eyes, his black ribbon visible as well.

"I told you," Tokyo whispered. "The Westerners are corrupting you."

Japan pulled his sword out of Tokyo's chest.

"If it means that I will have to do what I have to for survival, then I admit it," Japan said.

Tokyo fell forward, and Japan sheathed his sword.

"Regrettable," Japan said. "But if I have to get rid of any seeds of discord, then so be it. Having you alive would cause trouble for my country in the long haul."

"And we get to the root of it all," Canada said, eyes and grin wild and insane. "You're not above us. You're all the same."

…

Brazil shuddered. He could feel a cold hand on his shoulder, and knew that Adamastor was behind him.

"You have an opportunity," the spirit said. "Go, quickly. Before the window closes."

Brazil nodded mutely, before he made his way outside. A member of Amodi had died, and he was free.

And he would work to free her as well.

 **The confrontation didn't go as I wanted. Well, it ended with Japan killing Tokyo, which was at least what I wanted to happen. And I'm sorry if that entire confrontation between the two groups didn't make sense.**


	68. Chapter 67

**Thanks to Yellow, Terra, Elsa, Kattie, TooShyToReview, Eternal Nexus Warrior, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, Star Symphonic, teabrows and Time turner for reviewing.**

 **Okay, so I checked again. The Battle of York took place in 1813, but it was part of the War of 1812. So sorry for those confused.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 67**

Italy cried out in pain, his black ribbon becoming visible. He glared at it, his face paling.

They had lost another ally. And the Bonds would need to recover yet again.

…

Romania cried out in pain, leaning against the nearest wall. He glared at his left hand, and the ribbon wrapped around it.

Someone else had died. But, _how_?

It didn't matter. He would find out later. For now, he would need to carry out his mission. He had hoped to play around a little more, but if the Bonds were fragile, then he would need to be careful. He would need to kill Kosovo quickly.

"Ready or not, here I come," Romania muttered.

…

Puerto Rico hissed in pain, grabbing his chest. Liechtenstein glanced towards him lazily.

"Someone else has died," she said. "Now you understand why we're careful about letting others join us. When they die, we all feel it. And for a while, we're vulnerable. So, try not to get killed, or I'll take it out on your people."

Puerto Rico nodded his head in understanding.

The two of them had reached New York's house, but at first glance it didn't look as though he was there. But Liechtenstein assured him that he _was_ there, and he would trust her judgement. She was more experienced than him, after all.

"Where do you think he would hide?" Liechtenstein asked.

"I'm thinking the attic or the basement," Puerto Rico said.

"You check above, I'll check below," she said.

"Understood."

…

America grunted as Canada kicked him away. Canada quickly scrambled to his feet, rushing to Egypt's side.

"We need to get out of here," Canada said lowly.

"Agreed," Egypt said. "Allow me to put one more bullet to use."

Before anyone could react, Egypt aimed for Andorra and shot him in the head. The European dropped to the ground immediately.

"No!" America shouted. "Bastards!"

Canada shrugged, and the two of them disappeared.

Japan stared at Tokyo's corpse, before sinking to his knees. He reached out to stroke the hair, taking a shaky breath.

"I wish that it didn't have to be like this," Japan said.

China limped closer to Japan, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"They were wrong," China said. "We at least regret our actions."

"When we're not trying to bury them," America said dully. "Japan, I'm so sorry."

"It's in the past," Japan said. "For now, we need to focus on the present. And the future."

There was a scream, and everyone turned to see what was happening. Asides from Andorra, someone else had been shot. And Catalonia was hugging his body close, tears of anguish running down her cheeks.

"Basque," she whined. "Por favor, hermano. No estés muerto. Por favor…"

Quebec moved closer to her, falling to his knees. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's my fault. My fault…"

"You knew what Tokyo was supposed to be doing," Catalonia said.

Quebec nodded his head.

"He had to… wait until… everyone was… here," Quebec whispered.

"And then they'd kill us all in one go?" Catalonia asked.

Quebec nodded his head.

"And what about _you_?" Catalonia asked. "What would be your role?"

"Distraction," he said. "Nothing… else."

"They were trying to kill you just now," Russia said. "Are you surprised?"

"Yes. They wouldn't… grant me that… mercy."

"How can you think that death is _mercy_?" Catalonia asked.

"Look at me."

She didn't. She understood the rhetoric of the statement. She could feel his thin frame against her.

Norway cleared his throat, stepping closer.

"Quebec had no intention of harming anyone," he said. "He was only a tool for them to use as they pleased. They wanted him to meet Michoacán, and he would serve as a preview to what they had in store for her."

Quebec nodded his head, and America sighed.

"It's a good thing she didn't want to come," America said.

"I… warned her," Quebec said.

"Thanks."

"They will be feeling the backlash," Norway said, turning towards Tokyo. "And they won't be happy. I suggest we leave as soon as possible."

"And what about Andorra?" Russia asked. "By their rules, his land belongs to them now."

Everyone turned their attentions to the fallen Andorra.

"You're right," Norway said. "We can't stay here. This is officially enemy territory now."

"But we can't just leave them here!" Catalonia exclaimed. "It wouldn't be right. They died horribly. _All_ of them. We can't just… we can't…" She sobbed. "I can't leave him…"

It was clear to everyone that she was taking the death of Basque very hard. And it was understandable. And they all knew that she had a point – they couldn't leave them there.

"Do you think you can take all of us with you?" Russia asked Norway.

The Norwegian almost collapsed, looking at everyone there.

"If I was still a nation, I would be able," Norway said. "But even the trip here with just a few of us was slightly draining. The fact that I was able to remain standing was surprising. But… I didn't want to be identified as the weak link. Well, more than I already am."

Greenland and Faroe exchanged a look.

"The two of us know _some_ magic," Greenland admitted. "It's not enough to be of much use. But I think, if we help Norway with _his_ magic…"

"A transfer," Norway said. "Or a spell in conjunction. It might be possible."

"And if it isn't?" America asked.

"We send the regions first," China said. "Get them to safety soon. The rest of us can wait."

"It might be better," Japan said. "We can put up a fight. And we've already established that they don't want us dead yet."

"There's something I want to know first," Cornwall said, looking at Japan. "How did you kill Tokyo so quickly?"

"Yeah," Guernsey added. "I thought there was some gimmick or something?"

"A region, province, state – whatever you want to call them – are easier to kill than a nation," China explained. "Especially if the nation they belong to wants them dead. Since Japan is the one to kill Tokyo, it's recognised as the nation's desire to kill his region."

"And Canada basically gave his permission to Tokyo to kill Quebec," Isle of Man said, eyes wide.

All eyes turned to Quebec, who lowered his gaze.

"Earlier, you said that you consider death to be a mercy," Åland said. "But when they were about to kill you, you got out of the way. What changed?"

"I think I can answer that," Japan said, eyes on Quebec. "It's because his existence had no meaning. But it changed. He has people that care about him, and who he cares about."

Quebec nodded his head, and Catalonia placed her hand on his arm.

"I think you should go now," America told Norway, before looking towards Russia and China. "In the meantime, we should probably patch you guys up."

"That is a good idea," Russia said, rubbing his shoulder. "They really _have_ developed a bullet to kill us, and they really hurt."

China looked at America oddly.

"When did _you_ become thoughtful?" China asked.

"Hey," America said, pouting. "I can be thoughtful."

"Uh, guys?" Picardy said, crouching down in front of something. "Did anyone drop a _gun_?"

Everyone turned to him, and America's eyes widened.

"That was Canada's," America said. "He was aiming for Quebec, but then, when I tackled him… I knocked it out of his hand, and he probably forgot it."

"This is good then," Russia said, smiling. "We can analyse them now."

"And recreate them?" Norway asked suspiciously.

"If it gives us an edge, I don't see why not," China said, rubbing his thigh. "And I wouldn't mind returning the favour."

Catalonia averted her eyes.

"I wouldn't mind returning the favour either," she said.

…

Poland and Italy were glaring at Egypt and Canada, who averted their eyes. Wales was standing in the corner, looking a little nervous.

"So, let me get this straight," Italy said. "You two went to Andorra's house without notifying us beforehand, and confronted America's group. And you blew Tokyo's cover. You weren't cautious enough, which resulted in Tokyo being killed. Am I right?"

"Well," Canada said, "we didn't _exactly_ blow his cover. It had already been revealed before we joined."

"Norway has joined them," Egypt said. "How is that even possible?"

"It would _seem_ that since Norway is no longer a nation, he is no longer bound by the magic," Poland said. "He managed to slip away, and joined the others."

"How'd he get to them so fast, though?" Italy asked. "Didn't Finland report Norway's disappearance just this morning?"

"If he had gone to Russia, then it's possible that he had met with General Winter," Canada said. "And General Winter can teleport at will."

"Let's get back to the situation at hand," Poland said. "Your carelessness allowed Tokyo to be killed."

"We _did_ manage to kill two of them," Egypt said. "One of the regions – I don't know which – and Andorra."

"It would have been better to kill all of the regions at once," Poland said. "And as for Andorra… Though it's fortunate that they've lost their base, they could just relocate. And we're stuck with trying to find them again. At least, while they're in Andorra, we could attack them all at the same time. Now we need to start all over again."

"I'll be able to find them," Egypt said.

"And if they manage to relocate to a place that's impossible to penetrate?" Italy asked.

"Then we'll find a way," Canada said. "We always do."

Italy pursed his lips, before he chuckled.

"It's true," Italy said. "We _will_ find a way. We always do."

Poland sighed.

"We need to make sure that everything is still alright with everyone else," Poland said. "We need everyone to give us their progress reports. See if anything _else_ is going on that we might have missed."

"Speaking of which," Italy said, "how's Greece doing?"

"It's too soon to say," Egypt said. "We haven't tested to see his responses yet."

"How are you keeping him occupied?"

"Currently, he's listening to a record of the Greco-Turkish War. One that goes into _great_ detail."

Both Italy and Poland smirked.

"That sounds like a good approach," Italy said. "How long will it take for him to listen to it all?"

Egypt looked at his watch.

"I'd say it'd take about twelve more hours," Egypt commented.

Poland chuckled.

"Then afterwards, test his responses," Poland said. "If they prove promising, then continue with what you're doing. If not, then you may want to change strategies."

The two smirked, knowing what Poland was referring to.

"Understood," Canada said.

"Very well then," Italy said. "Get back to that. And please, don't screw this up."

"Got it," Egypt said.

…

Brazil had never been so happy for his Latin heritage. It allowed him to blend in with the Italians. Through appearance and personality. And it helped that he managed to steal some clothes from Romano. He only hoped that it would be enough.

Adamastor had told him that they were in South Africa, and he would go there. All it would take was to stow away on a plane. And he hoped that it would all go well. If not, then Adamastor would do more to help.

He couldn't afford for Amodi to catch him again. He needed to save South Africa, and then he would probably go to join the resistance. And he would work on restoring his own county, liberating it from Amodi's influence.

He just hoped that he would be able to get far before his presence was missed. He hoped that he wouldn't experience any misfortune on his way to save her. And he hoped that she would be willing to listen to him. That Israel didn't have too tight of a hold on her.

And then, he hoped that he would be able to save Portugal and the rest of his family.

He felt bad that he didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to any of them. Though perhaps it was a good thing. He didn't want to think that he might have been saying 'farewell' instead.

He could finally do something about Amodi. He just hoped that it would be enough to make a difference.

…

New York was hiding in a cupboard he had under the stairs. It wasn't easily noticeable, and thus made a good hiding place. It also served as his panic room.

He was still recovering from a nuclear meltdown. He was physically weaker at the moment. His lungs weren't able to take much strain, and he had to constantly force himself to relax. He also couldn't afford for his breathing to become erratic. If his breathing became erratic, then the intruders in his house would hear him. And he already knew that the two were members of Amodi.

He had hoped that he could access his ace. After all, he _was_ the birthplace of the American Mafia. But after the outbreak of the war, he realised that they were never his. That they had always belonged to Italy.

He wouldn't be able to fight them. He just needed to wait them out. That was all that he could do.

He heard someone outside of the cupboard, and he clamped his hand on his mouth. He didn't want to risk them hearing him at all.

"He's not in the attic."

"And he's not in the basement. Any other suggestions?"

"He might have a hide-away, or something. Maybe a panic room? Now that I think about it, most of America's states have a panic room. _America_ has one."

There was a girlish giggle, and New York had to suppress a shudder.

"They're a paranoid bunch, aren't they?" she said. "But it's the paranoid ones that are the most fun. It's their own paranoia that will be their undoing. And it's always so fun to see."

"Their own paranoia being their undoing?"

"You're still new at this. I'll teach you all of the fun things."

New York closed his eyes. He managed to recognise one of the voices. He didn't imagine that Puerto Rico would join Amodi.

"So, do you know where New York's panic room is?" she asked.

"No. The states keep that information to themselves. It's supposed to be a safe place in case of war, including another civil war."

"Then I guess because of the fear of another civil war, they keep the information to themselves. And if they don't share that information with each other, then they wouldn't share it with you."

"We don't even know that New York _has_ a panic room. Not all of them have one, after all."

"He's injured? He wouldn't want to leave his land, and you said that this is his only house. He needs to heal, and close proximity to territory is the best way."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, _if_ he has a panic room, then we need to find it. If we have to tear down the walls and all."

"I think he has a tool shed. There should be something in there that could help us tear down the walls."

New York's eyes widened. If they intended to break down his walls… They would find him, without a doubt. And they would kill him.

…

Kosovo had his hands clasped against his mouth, trembling violently. He hoped that Romania didn't find him. He hoped that the others returned before he could. And he hoped that they would be a match for Romania.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Romania's voice echoed. "You're wasting my time. I have other things to do."

Kosovo clenched his eyes tight. He hoped that Romania lost interest. He hoped that he wouldn't find him.

And he hoped that he would be able to escape the cabinet as soon as possible.

"Very well then," Romania said. "Looks like I have no choice. It seems I have to resort to magic to find you."

Kosovo hoped that he was bluffing. That it wouldn't work. But just as he was thinking that, the closet door burst open. And Romania's red eyes seemed to glow as he grinned.

"Found you," Romania said.

…

Israel hissed in pain, and he was glad that South Africa drove on the left side of the road. Which meant that all of the cars were right-hand drives. Which meant that, sitting in the passenger seat, White wasn't able to see the ribbons appearing on his left hand.

"Are you alright?" White asked in concern.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just a headache."

"Should we pull over?"

"No, I'm fine. How long before we get there?"

"About another hour."

"Great. Do you mind if I take a little nap?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks."

He closed his eyes, hoping that she didn't learn about his part in Amodi.

…

Norway, Faroe and Greenland managed to get all of the regions to Russia's base, only for the three to immediately collapse. They managed to arrive in the meeting room, and there were many who managed to catch them, and many who could help.

"What happened?" Ukraine asked. "Where's my brother?"

"He's fine," Isle of Man said. "I think. He was shot by Egypt in the shoulder."

Yemen and Oman flinched.

"Those bullets…" Oman said. "They hurt like a bitch. I actually feel sorry for Russia."

"China too," Cornwall pointed out.

"He has our sympathies too," Yemen said.

"Norway said he would be having trouble bringing all of us here," Picardy said. "Looks like he was right."

"We need to let them rest for a while," Isle of Man said. "And then they'll get the others."

"Don't _you_ have magic?" Åland asked suspiciously.

"It's a bit risky," Cornwall said. "Wales is part of Amodi. And if we use magic, there's a chance that he might be able to pick up on it."

"Since Wales took over the British Isles, he'd be able to sense it," Isle of Man said. "Our magic is rooted deeply in our lands."

Everyone was silent for a while.

"Looks like we have to wait," Turkey said. "And in the meantime, you can tell us what happened."

 **So I was stressing about how Israel would hide the ribbons from White this time, then I remembered that he'd only have to worry about the left hand, and I remembered how our cars look. I'm a little embarrassed that it took me so long. Also, most cars in South Africa are manual, so White also has the necessary muscle memory to be able to drive a manual on the left side of the road. Israel drives on the right, and he doesn't feel confident about his muscle memory, so he leaves the driving to her. The clutch wouldn't be the problem. It's the shifting of gears that could be their undoing.**

 **Adamastor wants Brazil to help White on his own as much as possible, since that way there's a better chance that White would be able to see that Brazil is serious about her, and that he is the one that genuinely wants to save her.**

 **I didn't forget about the Channel Islands. I just don't know all of their names. But I did kind of forget about Cornwall and Isle of Man.**

 **They also left the corpses with America's group, since it would have already been hard transporting all of the regions without them. And Japan would go to work to honour the dead while America patches up China and Russia or examines the gun.**


	69. Chapter 68

**Thanks to Kattie, TooShyToReview, GreenIsBeautiful, TheSilentLilac, Terra, Elsa, pastaaddict and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **I wanted to show New York's fate in this chapter, but there wasn't room. Instead, there will be a lot of focus on the Yugoslavians.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 68**

Serbia returned to Slovenia's house. He had a bad feeling, and he wanted to make sure that Kosovo was alright. If anything had happened…

He opened the door and froze in shock. Lying in the centre of the foyer were two corpses: Croatia and Kosovo.

Croatia… It was clear that they had waited too long. That they had been too late a while ago. He was covered in bruises, cuts and burns. Romania appeared to have tortured him for some time. And Kosovo… his heart had been ripped out of his chest. What disturbed him was the fact that Kosovo was still physically a child, no older than Romania's little brother.

Serbia wasn't sure which death was the worst. Croatia's appeared to be slow, while Romania probably didn't have much time with Kosovo. It was still a horrible way to die.

He had been hovering in the doorway, but he was suddenly pulled in by an invisible force. He cried out in shock and panic, and the door behind him was slammed shut. He was dragged to the opposite wall and pinned against it by the same force. He stared in horror as Romania came into view.

"You were taking too long," Romania said. "I was getting impatient. Was the sight so surprising?"

Serbia started trembling. This Romania… It wasn't the nation that he knew. He had always laughed about the vampire stereotypes Romania was associated with. He had even _reassured_ Romania about them – that he wasn't some creature of the night. But now, when he saw Romania, he couldn't help but associate him with the lovechild of a creature of the night and a monster straight from hell.

"Why?" Serbia whispered.

"Be more specific," Romania said.

"Why are you doing this?!" he shouted.

"Because I can, and I want to. You know, I was looking forward to playing with you. You have this big brother instinct. You care about others. And you _hate_ to see others hurt." Romania glanced towards the two corpses. "Seeing them like that must _kill_ you. You were too late. Croatia's dead because you took too long to notice that something was wrong. And Kosovo's dead because you left him alone while I'm around."

Serbia's eyes were clenched shut, tears streaming down his face. He was trembling from a combination of fear and horror, and he tried to ignore Romania's words without success.

"Do you know what this is?" Romania asked.

Serbia opened his eyes, and they immediately fell on what looked like an ice pick.

"What are you going to do with that?" Serbia asked, dreading the answer.

Romania smirked.

"You care about the people around you," Romania said. "Empathy is one of your strongest traits. But what if you didn't feel anything at all?"

Serbia's eyes widened in realisation. Romania chuckled coldly.

"Do you know how a transorbital lobotomy works?" Romania asked. "It involves lifting the upper eyelid and placing the point of an orbitoclast, like this, or anything similar under the eyelid and against the top of the eye socket. Usually one uses a mallet to force the point through the bone and into the brain, but I don't have one with me. But thanks to my connections, I'm strong enough to be able to push it through myself, though it's slower than the mallet, and in my opinion far better. When it's forced in, it's forced along the plane of the bridge of the nose. Five centimetres in, it's pivoted forty degrees to the opposite side of the head, towards the nose. It's then returned to the neutral position before being forced in two more centimetres, before being pivoted twenty-eight degrees to each side. Of course, this would be easier with an X-ray, which I don't have. So I guess it'll be touch-and-go, won't it?"

Serbia's trembling had grown more violent, and to his horror, he discovered that he couldn't close his eyes at all. He couldn't even blink. And Romania acted as though he knew it. As though _he_ was the one responsible for it.

"Don't worry," Romania said. "A nation can heal from a lobotomy, with all damages to the brain being restored to its original state. It only takes three days."

Serbia's stomach dropped. A nation recovered from dying faster than from a lobotomy. And how would Romania know about the time it takes to heal? As far as he knew, none of the nations had received a lobotomy at any point in time…

He was wrenched out of his thoughts when Romania closed the distance, and the point of the instrument started to dominate his attention. But he wanted to know one more thing.

"Wait!" Serbia shouted. "What did you do to Bulgaria?"

Romania burst out into laughter.

"Even when you're about to be tortured, you care more about other people," Romania said. "But that just means that what I have in mind for you would _definitely_ work."

"What do you…?" Serbia whispered.

"Bulgaria is fine," Romania interrupted. "He's babysitting Moldova. And as long as neither of them causes trouble, Bulgaria will remain fine."

Serbia screamed in pain as he felt a thin, sharp metal rod being pushed into his skull.

…

Slovenia was starting to panic. He couldn't sense Croatia at all now, while Romania's presence seemed to affect the entire town. Instead of staying in his capital, he had decided to take them to a smaller town, where Amodi would be less likely to find them.

It didn't work.

He was a fool. He had wanted to remain neutral. He wanted to protect them all. But of course Amodi would find them. And now his family was in danger.

They were nations, bound by the will of their people. It often made friendships difficult, knowing that a single whim of a simple human might make them turn on each other. It made it even worse for family members, and they were left picking up the pieces. They were _still_ trying to fix everything that had happened in the last century.

The two hours were almost up. It was time to head back to his house, where the others would be going. They would have to face the fact that Croatia was lost to them. And they would need to escape, before Romania went to get the rest of him.

He only wished that they would be able to retrieve Croatia's body.

He was already on his way back when he decided to reach out, trying to see if the others were returning as well. He knew which nations were in his land, so he was able to track them down. Romania was still tricky, of course.

Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia…

He came to a stop, his eyes wide. He couldn't sense Kosovo at all. And Serbia felt… fuzzy. There was something wrong with him.

He took off running. He had a feeling he knew where Romania was now.

…

General Winter was hovering over the town. He had been looking over Slovenia, seeing him as the leader of these nations. And he had a feeling that out of everyone, Russia would want _him_ to join them.

He didn't know what was happening, but he knew that there was something going on. Something was happening that would tear several nations apart.

…

"This is a stressful day," Italy sighed. "We've lost one of our own."

"Thankfully the Bonds healed faster than when Molossia died," Poland said. "We're less vulnerable now than before."

"It's still a bit of a disappointment. Maybe it's because Tokyo only had the Bonds of hate. He wasn't like Molossia, who had a lover and desire."

Poland was silent for a moment.

"Hey, what would you do if _I_ was killed?" Poland asked.

Italy sighed, pulling Poland closer.

"I would hunt down the person responsible," Italy said. "And I would find everyone that person loves, whether they're human or nation. I would then proceed to torture them until they're begging for death. And I would have the one that killed you present for each torture, unable to move, and unable to scream for me to stop. I would torture their loved ones one by one, with the process being repeated over and over again, until he's lost _everyone_ that he cares for. And then I'll make sure he suffers a thousand of his own deaths before finally getting rid of him permanently."

Poland smiled.

"If you were killed, then the whole world would die with you," Poland said. "There will be nothing left. _Everyone_ will regret what happened."

Italy smiled back.

"That sounds like a good plan," Italy said.

"Oh, but yours is very sweet," Poland said. "So creative. And to think you'd be willing to do so much for me."

"Of course," Italy said, drawing closer. "You're worth it, amore."

Poland smiled, and the two leaned in for a kiss…

"That was incredibly disturbing."

The two pulled away, turning their heads to glare at the intruder.

"Carlino!" Italy shouted. "What have we told you about _knocking_?"

"Then don't leave the door wide open!" San Marino shouted. "Why am _I_ always the one this happens to?"

"I was thinking along the same lines…" Poland muttered.

"Anyway, what is it now?" Italy asked.

"Romania has already killed Croatia and Kosovo," San Marino reported. "He's also commenced with torturing Serbia."

"I don't care about his methods, as long as he succeeds," Poland said.

"Just thought you'd like to know."

"Si," Italy said. "Grazie. Now please, stop interrupting us!"

"Believe me, _I_ don't want to walk in on this either," San Marino said, before he turned and left.

"I wonder if we should spy on him and Angelo, just to make it even," Italy mused.

"Somehow, thinking about Vatican doing something like that is kind of disturbing," Poland said.

"You might have a point," Italy said, before shuddering. "Okay, I think I'm disturbed by the thought of _any_ of my younger brothers acting the way I am. Does Romano feel like this too?"

"Oh, the two of us have had long talks about the subject. Your brother knows how to be scary."

Italy smirked.

"Are you scared of Lovino?" Italy asked.

"Only whenever the thought of something happening to you comes up," Poland said. "It's one of the two things I fear, along with losing you."

"I don't know whether to scold or thank Lovino," Italy said.

…

"Regrettable," Japan said. "I hope you find peace."

While America had been working on patching up China and Russia, Japan had opted for finding sheets in which to wrap the bodies of the dead. His idea had been to create a burial shroud.

They had decided that Japan would be the one best suited for such a task. He would certainly be the best to figure out what to do with Tokyo. Though China and Russia weren't exactly comfortable about having America dealing with their injuries.

"What's taking them so long?" Russia asked.

"I don't know," China said. "I hope nothing's wrong."

They froze when they heard footsteps. They got into defensive positions, only to widen their eyes when what looked to be a child came into view. The child looked cold for a moment before he smiled.

"Privet, Russia," the child said.

…

The nations were silent as they absorbed the information. Canada's words especially struck a chord with them.

Norway, Faroe and Greenland had recovered a little, and were waiting for the chance to return to retrieve the others. But they were curious about the rest of the group's reaction.

Finally Turkey sighed.

"This is really bad," Turkey said. "We already knew that they've disconnected from their lands, but now I know that there's more to it."

"What do you mean?" Vietnam asked.

"They don't even _think_ like nations anymore. At the root of it all, nations always put their people first, with their lands being second. But Amodi doesn't even seem to consider them. And furthermore, they seem to think more like humans. They think of things in a human context."

"Okay," Pakistan said. "Is there a reason why that's bad?"

"We need to think of other nations as puppets following their boss's orders," Turkey said. "In the end, we're the only ones there for each other. The only family, and the only friends. So anything we do during war, it's not _us_ doing it. But they don't think of us as simply following orders. Instead, they think of us as the _person_ responsible for hurting them."

"And they take things personal," Thailand said.

"Think about it for a second. How many times have we hurt our fellow nations by following orders? How many times have _we_ given the orders to our people, and how many times have _we_ carried out the orders?"

The others were silent, some shifting guiltily in their seats.

"Exactly," Turkey said. "They see everything we did as things that _we_ wanted to do. And I'll admit that my behaviour during my Ottoman days might have reinforced that idea."

"Some of them aren't wrong," Norway said. "The ones that have been subjugated. The conquering nation only needed to keep them out of the way. They had control of them. And some of them abused their position. England admitted that his behaviour towards Wales _was_ abusive, and that's what drove him to join Amodi."

"I think I get it now," Netherlands said. "It's not what we did _under_ the orders that earned their hate. It's what we did _without_ the orders that they hate."

"They've had a lot of time to plan this war," Norway said. "And a lot of time for things to happen."

"A lot of time for other nations to have done something that they find deplorable," Turkey said. "Take Romania… After I got a hold of him, I tried to strip him of everything he used to be."

"Romania's initial reason for joining was because he wanted the freedom to torture people in as gruesome a way as possible. But there are those that he would _especially_ like to get a hold of."

"It doesn't matter _why_ they originally joined," Hungary said. "And it doesn't matter what they think we've done to them. The things they've done are unforgivable, and they can't use the past to justify what they're doing in the present."

"That may be the case," Netherlands said, "but they don't see it that way. And at the moment, we have no choice but to be subject to their philosophy. They're the ones in control, after all."

"I hate that thought," Hungary said. "But… You're right. Until we can figure out how to rob them of their advantage."

"You know," Picardy said, "I get the feeling that we forgot something."

…

Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina arrived at Slovenia's house, and it looked as though Slovenia hadn't returned yet.

"Do you think we should wait for Slovenia?" Macedonia asked.

"I don't think we have to wait outside," Montenegro said. "Why don't we go inside?"

"Sure," Bosnia said. "I think we've been out in the sun long enough."

Herzegovina hesitated. She had the strangest feeling that something was wrong. But the others were already going inside, and so she followed after them.

Once the door was opened, they were pulled in by an invisible force. The door was slammed closed as they were pinned against the wall.

They widened their eyes when they saw Romania, standing next to Serbia. Serbia was slumped on the ground. And a few metres in front of them were the corpses of Croatia and Kosovo.

"Welcome," Romania said, smirking.

"Y-you?" Bosnia stuttered. "What did you do to them?"

"Well, I should say that it's pretty obvious what I did to Croatia and Kosovo. Or are you enquiring about Serbia?"

Romania gave the Serb a little nudge, and he dully lifted his head. The others gasped when they saw his dull eyes, and a trail of blood coming from his eye that looked like a tear.

"What did you do to him?!" Montenegro demanded.

"Nothing fatal," Romania said. "At least, not for a nation. And even for humans they're rarely fatal. It's just a little lobotomy, after all."

"What?!" Macedonia asked, paling slightly. "Why?!"

"Tell me, what's Serbia like?" Romania asked. "Isn't he the type of person to care so much for everyone around him? And what would happen if someone like that were to witness the deaths of people he cared about? And while that happened, he _didn't care at all_?A nation can heal from a lobotomy, after all."

They stared at him in horror.

"You monster," Macedonia whispered.

Romania simply shrugged.

"We're just waiting for Slovenia, and then we can begin," Romania said.

…

Slovenia's heart sank when his house came into view. He reached out, and his worst fears were confirmed. The others were inside, and there was a good chance that Romania was there as well.

He knew that it was dangerous. That it would be suicide to go inside. But he couldn't just leave them. Perhaps there was a way to fight back. Perhaps they could still save themselves. But he didn't want to leave them. If it was the end, then he didn't want them to think that he abandoned them.

They were his family. If it was the end, then he would be there with them.

General Winter came into view, and Slovenia came to a stop.

"You mustn't go inside," the General said. "Romania is there."

Slovenia lowered his head.

"I know," he said. "But I can't just leave them!"

He pulled away from the General and continued to the house.

"Idiot," the General said. "I cannot follow with _him_ there."

Slovenia rushed into the house, and immediately afterwards he felt his body freeze. He felt his stomach drop as he was pushed against the wall.

"And our last guest had arrived," Romania said. "Now we can begin."

"What the hell are you going to do?" Slovenia asked.

"Oh, you still need to ask? Alright, I suppose, since I have something _special_ planned for you…"

Romania walked closer, and Slovenia squirmed at the proximity. Romania leaned forward and whispered into Slovenia's ear.

His eyes widened in horror.

 **I mentioned before that I was hanging out a lot on TV Tropes? There are three tropes that you can find under Romania's scene with Serbia: Nightmare Fuel, Adult Fear and Fridge Horror. Nightmare Fuel is self-explanatory. The way Romania describes the process of lobotomy right before actually going through with it. Adult Fear are the fears you develop once you're no longer afraid of the monster under the bed. The realistic fears. Specifically, leaving your child or younger sibling alone at home while a serial killer is on the loose and returning to find that they were the killer's latest target. And finally, Fridge Horror. Fridge can be divided in Horror, Brilliance and Logic. They're the things that you don't really understand at first, but once you put more thought in them, it hits you. For example, Romania knowing exactly how long it would take for a nation to heal from a lobotomy. That would imply that he's actually experimented with it.**

 **And… I realised I forgot** _ **another**_ **character on the regions' side. So, if any of you are wondering who that child with Russia's group is, he's a friend. I just forgot him, and so did the others.**


	70. Chapter 69

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, HavenofUmbar, Terra, TheSilentLilac, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Kattie, shoujochan, Coolc341, Kasierreich, pastaaddict and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing. 600 reviews! It's exceeded the number of reviews of Game of Mirrors, which is almost twice the length so far. So… Wow. Thanks guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 69**

New York trembled. He knew that the enemy was outside. He knew that they were looking for him. They knew that he had a panic room, or at least suspected. And they were going to try to break it down.

He regretted having his panic room being something so simple; the cupboard under the stairs. It was just a place where he could relax when things got too hectic. It focused on his peace of mind, and not his security. He really regretted it now.

He jumped when he heard the first collision. Thinking about it, didn't he have a sledgehammer in his shed?

His eyes clenched shut as he heard the strikes getting louder and coming closer. It was only a matter of time before they reached him. It was only a matter of time before they would be able to kill him.

They must have been looking for any suspicious areas which could possibly hide a panic room. And unfortunately, the area under the stairs looked suspicious. While there wasn't an obvious door, they had no reason to accept that there _wasn't_ something there.

New York started to hyperventilate. It was a bad time. He was weak after the attacks that he had gone through, and even his mind was in a fragile state after many of his people turned out not to be his.

He noticed that there was a rhythm to the strikes. It was as though they were doing something between strikes. What it could be, New York wasn't sure. Perhaps they were checking to see if they had indeed found his panic room.

He jumped when the next strike sounded _way_ too close, and he opened his eyes. He forced his hand on his mouth to bite back the whimper that tried to escape. Lodged inside the door was the head of the sledgehammer.

It was removed, and he shielded his eyes when a bright light shone into them. He was right in assuming that they took the time to see if they had found him.

"Found you," a girlish voice said.

The light disappeared, and there was another strike aimed at the door. New York's heart sank when he realised that they intended to break down the door. At this point in time, he only had one last hope.

He quickly unlocked the door, and when the sledgehammer was removed again he took the chance, knowing that they would have to raise the hammer again, and that was his window of opportunity.

He kicked open the door, colliding with the one holding the hammer. He heard the hammer drop, but he didn't turn to check. He launched himself out of the small space, trying desperately to reach the front door.

But someone grabbed his ankle before he could completely right himself.

He landed hard on the ground, and a weight pinned him down. He struggled desperately, screaming for someone to save him.

"Where's your pride?" the unknown female asked cruelly.

He could hear footsteps coming closer, and he looked behind him to see Puerto Rico approaching with the sledgehammer. He closed his eyes with a scream. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Puerto Rico raising the sledgehammer above his head…

…

America hissed, rubbing his head. The others glanced at him briefly before turning back to the child.

"You are Transnistria, da?" Russia asked.

The child nodded eagerly.

"That is correct," Transnistria said. "I came here because I refused to be subjugated by Amodi. And Romania hates me, so I figured I'd go where it's safer. I considered going to your place, but I didn't know whether or not you were there."

"I understand," Russia said. "You were smart."

"I'm confused," America said. "Who is this kid?"

"He's a region of Moldova that decided to separate from the main country."

"I am the part of Moldova that wished to remain with Soviet Russia," Transnistria supplied helpfully.

"Great," America groaned. "Another Commie."

China shot him a glare before returning his attention to the Eastern European.

"What are you still doing here?" China asked.

"I told them not to bother me unless it's something important," Transnistria said. "And there's a chance that they forgot about me. They don't bother me that much, after all…"

Russia nodded.

"I see," Russia said. "Then we can wait a while for Norway to return."

Transnistria nodded, smiling.

…

Slovenia closed his eyes, trying to block out the screaming. Montenegro was the first one to be tortured.

Romania had explained that cutting off the senses was a good way to kill a nation. And to do that, one had to remove the eyes, ears, tongue and nose. Though Romania didn't explain how one would go about destroying touch.

Romania had started by removing Montenegro's eyes. That way, he was more sensitive to the removal of the others. And he wouldn't know which one would be targeted next.

Some of the screams belonged to Montenegro, but most of them belonged to the others that were forced to watch this horrifying scene.

"It's rude to close your eyes when I'm giving a show," Romania said, and Slovenia could feel his breath on his face. "Open your eyes, Slovenia."

"Please no," Slovenia whispered. "Don't…"

"Open."

Slovenia's eyes shot open, and he whimpered. Romania wasn't shy of using his magic anymore, and it only reminded them of how helpless they were.

"That's better," Romania said, returning to Montenegro's side. "Now, ears next."

Slovenia looked towards Serbia, who was staring at everything blankly. After what Romania had whispered to him…

Slovenia had never felt so scared before.

…

Brazil sighed in relief. He had managed to find a plane heading for South Africa, and had found his way into the luggage bay.

He had noticed a few things when he had gone to the airport. Security was a lot laxer than it used to be. He also couldn't see any indication that there were any flights to or from places like America, Russia or China. As far as he knew, those nations weren't under Amodi's control. Did they cut off the flights between them? There was also a lot less people in the airport than usual, and the flights didn't come as often as they used to. As though now, the people only went abroad when absolutely necessary, and when it was their turn.

So in short, he was _very_ lucky that he had managed to find a flight on its way to South Africa. He just hoped that it was going to the correct airport.

Oh well. Adamastor would most likely point him in the correct direction if he was on his way to the wrong destination.

He had also noticed that there was another flight heading to Rio de Janeiro, and he had been tempted to take that flight. To return to his own country. But South Africa needed him most.

He made himself comfortable. This wasn't the first time that he had stowed away on a plane, and he knew that this way, it would be a _long_ flight. But he didn't want to do anything that would alert Romano or India about his destination. He wanted to get as far away as possible before they grew wise.

It gave him enough time to try to figure out what to do once he actually _got_ South Africa.

He was well aware of the fact that he couldn't completely free her. Not yet. She was still bound by Amodi. If she attempted to escape, then she would die.

So he couldn't get her to escape Amodi. Not until they had another window of opportunity. Not until another member of Amodi died. He just needed to get her away from Israel.

Actually…

There had to be a way to get two birds with one stone. _After_ he had exposed Israel for his involvement in Amodi. If he did so _before_ , then it wouldn't work out for him. He could risk pushing her away forever.

Oh well. It was a long flight. He had plenty of time to think about what to do.

…

"How long will we be staying here?" Israel asked.

"For a week or so," White said. "And then I'm thinking of going to Pretoria."

They were currently in Johannesburg, in the suburb of Rosebank. White had a house there, and Israel was just relieved to see that there wasn't another of her _pets_ there.

"Did Italy have anything to say to you?" she asked,

"Not really," Israel said. "So, we can do whatever we want."

White smiled.

"That's good to hear," she said.

…

Portugal was getting a little worried. He had gone to speak to Brazil, thinking he was in his bedroom, only to find that that wasn't the case. He had gone to other places that Brazil often frequented in the house, but couldn't find him there either.

It was a possibility that he was simply outside – they were allowed outside the house but not outside the walls – and that Portugal had simply failed to notice him. After all, the only place he _hadn't_ looked was outside.

"You seem a little worried."

Portugal jumped, whirling around to see Romano staring at him with a neutral expression. Romano was the _last_ person he wanted to discuss this with.

"I'm not worried," Portugal said. "Just a little… bored."

Romano arched an eyebrow at that.

"Bored?" he repeated.

"Antsy," Portugal said. "I used to be an explorer. Now I'm… trapped in this building."

"Is that so?" Romano asked, taking a step forward. "You want to go out a little? Work off some… frustration?"

Portugal swallowed nervously.

"Just a little," Portugal said.

Romano smirked.

"Be careful what you wish for," Romano whispered. "You might just get it."

And Romano walked away. Once he was gone, Portugal slumped against the nearest wall. He had avoided Romano finding out about his predicament with Brazil, but for how long?

Portugal knew that there was something up. Brazil's talk about 'finding hope', and now Portugal couldn't find _him_ …

There was something wrong, and he hoped his former colony didn't do something reckless. He hoped that he was alright.

…

Norway sighed, looking towards Faroe and Greenland.

"I think we need to get the others now," Norway said.

"Great," Turkey said. "Let's hope they weren't ambushed while you were away."

"I wouldn't put it past them," Netherlands said.

…

The Yugoslavians all had tears running down their faces as they were forced to watch Montenegro being horribly tortured before what would finally be his death.

His eyes had been gouged out, his ears and nose cut off and his tongue cut out. Asides from the pain, it was clear that he was having trouble breathing, especially with the amount of blood flowing down his throat.

"Sight," Romania said, "sound, taste and smell. All that's left is touch."

Romania looked around the room, eyes lingering on Serbia for a moment before turning back to Montenegro.

"Time to finish this," Romania said, before snapping his fingers.

Montenegro screamed as he burst into flame, and the others screamed in horror. It became clear now how touch could be destroyed. After all, being burned would destroy the nerve-endings in the affected areas.

And they all knew that Romania had no intention of stopping until Montenegro was properly dead.

Which came sooner than expected, but to them it seemed as though it took forever. The fire died out, and Montenegro's body fell forward. There was no need to hold it up anymore.

"Well, that was fun," Romania said. "Now, who's next?"

"Bastard," Bosnia spat.

Romania rounded on him with a smirk.

"Looks like we have a nomination," Romania said.

"What?" Bosnia asked.

Romania turned his attention to Herzegovina, and her eyes widened. Bosnia's eyes widened as well, and he gasped.

"No!" he shouted. "Leave her alone!"

Romania ignored him, withdrawing a knife while approaching her. She closed her eyes when Romania was right in front of her.

"Be glad that this will be fast," he said, as he plunged the knife into her chest.

She let out a choked scream as Romania continued to slice the knife downward. He smirked, removing the knife, before he plunged his hand inside her chest cavity. She opened her mouth in a silent scream as he removed her heart.

"No!" Bosnia shouted. "Bastard! Leave her alone!"

"How does it feel to lose your other half?" Romania asked. "I'll get back to that later. But first, did you know that if you put food in front of a lobotomy patient, they will eat it, regardless of whether or not they're hungry. It also works for something they perceive to be food."

Romania took a bite of the heart, making sure that Serbia saw the action. He then handed the heart to Serbia, who stared at it for a moment before he took a bite. Macedonia and Slovenia averted their eyes, looking a little sick, and Bosnia sobbed. Herzegovina's body fell to the ground.

"This game is closer to reaching its conclusion," Romania said. "Macedonia, you're next."

…

Greece struggled in his bonds, desperate for release. Although the documentary was mind-numbingly boring, it dragged on, and he wasn't allowed to sleep, unless he wanted to receive an electrical shock.

He whimpered every time it happened. It might have been his imagination, but he could have sworn that it got stronger every time.

Unbeknownst to him, there was a one-way window, with his side resembling the wall. It wasn't quite a mirror, but it served its purpose. Egypt and Canada were on the other side, simply watching.

"That's going to take a while," Canada said. "I almost feel sorry for him."

"Is it because _you_ were the one editing the media?" Egypt asked.

"Yes. They can get quite boring before you add all the special effects. And even _with_ them, they're boring."

"But we needed them in extreme detail."

"We should have given him the video to watch."

"No, his eyes would have to remain open for all of it. And forcing his eyes to remain open for so long would have been really cruel, even for us."

"True."

Egypt yawned.

"Using so much magic really has a tendency to get to a person," Egypt said. "I'm going to go rest."

"Sweet dreams," Canada said, squeezing Egypt's hand before letting go. Egypt gave a small smile, before he departed for their room.

"I won't allow anyone to hurt you again," Canada muttered. "And those who _did_ hurt you would pay dearly for what they've done."

…

Quebec was looking nervously around at the nations gathered there, curled up on the chair. He had never been around so many people before. Until a week ago, _two_ was the number he was used to. So now this was overwhelming him.

"Tu es bien?"

Quebec whirled around to see Picardy, who gave him a small smile. Quebec looked down.

"Je ne sais pas," he whispered.

"Come with me," Picardy said.

Quebec stared at him for a moment longer before he stood and nervously followed after him. The others noticed, but they didn't make a move to stop them. Quebec didn't know whether this was a good or a bad thing.

Picardy didn't lead him too far away, being unfamiliar with the base. But he led him far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Catalonia's in mourning," Picardy said. "It might be a good idea to stay away from her for a while."

Quebec nodded his head.

"You knew what Tokyo was doing?" Picardy asked.

"Oui," Quebec said. "Désolé."

"I don't blame you," Picardy said. "You were manipulated, right? Only forced to serve as a mask. But when they went through with it, would you have tried to stop them?"

Quebec swallowed nervously.

"You saw what happened," he whispered. "I froze."

"Until they tried to kill you," Picardy said. "You have a survival instinct, which came in conflict with your trauma. You saw your tormentor, and you froze because that's how you learned you would survive – by attracting little attention to yourself. Am I wrong?"

Quebec closed his eyes, his hands trembling.

"No, I'm not," Picardy said. "You do anything you need to in order to survive. To some, it would seem cowardly. And they focus on the cowardly front, ignoring the strong will behind that. It's what it was like with France during World War Two. He only surrendered when he knew he couldn't win, and if he saw that it was the only way to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

To Quebec's surprise, Picardy pulled him into a hug.

"Restes calme," Picardy said. "You don't have to be alone anymore. There are many of us here who are more than willing to help you. And none of us would allow Canada to get you again. You have my word."

Quebec burst into tears, and Picardy held him tighter as he cried his heart out.

…

Portugal was drumming his fingers nervously, looking at all the gathered nations. All of the prisoners were there, except for Brazil.

Where _was_ he? He wouldn't just miss lunch, would he?

"Has anyone seen Brazil?" Portugal asked.

"No," East Timor said, shaking his head.

"Did he go outside or something?" Indonesia asked.

Luxembourg bit his lip.

"I _think_ I saw him," Luxembourg admitted. "He was outside, and he was running towards the wall."

"You don't think he ran away, do you?" Belgium asked.

"Impossible."

They all jumped when India spoke, standing in the doorway. He had a cold expression on his face.

"He wouldn't have gone far without dying instantly," India said.

…

Belarus sighed, looking over towards her passenger. She had been instructed to take him as close to the Russian border as possible. And from her own country, it was quite easy.

"Will you be able to enter?" she asked.

"Borders wouldn't bother me."

She looked towards him.

"And will you be able to find them?" she asked.

"I have a way of finding nations."

"Whatever you say, Antarctica."

 **Quebec and Picardy's entire dialog is actually in French, I just didn't want to have to play the translation card. Also, the conjugations that Picardy uses are 'tu', which is his way of telling Quebec that he's trying to be friendly, though there's a chance that Quebec might see it as condescending, but he doesn't mind. As for Quebec, he uses 'vous' for Picardy.**

 **Also, I'm doing my honours in French, and I would appreciate if any French readers would help me out with conversation at least. German as well, actually, since I don't want to lose that knowledge.**

 **During my research for the lobotomy, I read that patients will eat food placed in front of them, whether or not they're hungry. And Romania made Serbia perceive the heart as food, so…**

 **Also, just to make things clear about New York: he's injured from a nuclear meltdown, Amodi's arranged a few terrorist attacks (Operation Parasite) and said operation also robbed him of a significant amount of people responsible for his personality, so he's mentally trying to recover as well. So… Sad to say, he's the state with the biggest disadvantage at the present time. Oh, and Nevada is already dead. He was killed in an effort to save Molossia, which happened too late. Since they were more focused on Molossia, Nevada didn't really get much of a mention.**

 **As for the panic rooms, they're not bunkers. In the traditional sense, panic rooms are used to protect the occupants of the house from home invaders. Some are also equipped with gas masks or potassium iodine tablets in the event of a biological or nuclear attack. They can also be used when someone just wants to calm themselves. New York was already in the panic room when Liechtenstein and Puerto Rico arrived. And New York actually just uses his for when he needs to relax, and isn't as fortified as some of the others' are.**

 **Romania's method of killing Montenegro had actually been mentioned by Egypt. Egypt had explained it in order to mess with Turkey and the others. He was either killing Iran or Iraq at the time, I can't remember which.**

 **White doesn't know that Israel is part of Amodi. She just knows that Amodi knows they're together, and was asking him if he received any orders since she didn't receive any. And she's a little suspicious that they haven't been told what to do.**


	71. Chapter 70

**Thanks to Terra, Scribe of Nyx, Kattie, Time Turner, Elsa, StuffyJinx, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and HavenofUmbar for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 70**

"Next time we go on vacation, let's avoid anywhere with volcanoes," Confederacy commented.

Mexico had never been so relieved to return to her house. Especially considering the sun was pounding on her skin, aggravating her burns.

Pele had made it _very_ clear that the two of them weren't welcome in Hawaii, and they had left as soon as possible. After applying liberal amounts of ointment on their burns. Mexico had a feeling that at that moment, Canada looked more tanned than her, due to the fact that the ointment was the kind that one had to allow to be absorbed into the skin.

It hadn't been easy to explain to the pharmacist what had happened, and they had to repeatedly assure him that they didn't need a hospital.

He was nice. They hoped he made it out.

Pele had decided that she would rather destroy Hawaii than allow the land to belong to Amodi. And every volcano was acting up.

The people were evacuating, but they didn't quite know where they could go due to the war. Mexico already called her 'boss' to open up her borders for the Hawaiians. He had reacted rather quickly when he learned that she was in Hawaii.

"Want to go to the pool?" Mexico asked.

Confederacy made a face.

"And the chlorine?" she asked.

"Oh. Right."

"We could just take a bath in cold water."

"Do you think my bathtub's big enough?"

"One way to find out."

"…True."

…

"What do you mean, Brazil's missing?" Romano asked.

"They don't know where he is," India said. "And he has been acting strangely."

"Do you think he decided to commit suicide? That's the only explanation if he isn't here. We made it very clear that they would die if they leave."

India shrugged.

"Do you think we should let the people see if they can find his corpse?" India asked.

"Si," Romano said. "If he really tried to leave."

…

"Dude, what took you so long?" America whined.

Norway, Faroe and Greenland just stared at America blankly. China smirked, seeing that there was definitely a family resemblance between the three.

"When we arrived, the three of us collapsed," Norway said. "Didn't I say that it will be difficult?"

"Hai, you did," Japan said. "We are very sorry for the strain that we put on you."

Norway nodded his head in acknowledgement, before his eyes fell on Transnistria.

"Who are you?" Norway asked, and Greenland and Faroe both smacked their foreheads.

"We forgot about him," Faroe said.

"Transnistria, we're sorry," Greenland said.

"It's alright," Transnistria said. "I figured you forgot me. If you had left me here alone, on the other hand…"

"Sorry!" Faroe and Greenland said simultaneously, looking nervous.

"And now they look like Denmark," China mused.

"What's that?" Norway asked, turning to China.

"Nothing," China said, waving him off.

"Could we perhaps leave now?" Russia asked. "It's starting to feel more and more like enemy territory here."

"Agreed," Norway said, glancing towards the bodies covered in shrouds. "Do we have to bring _them_ too?"

"Please," Japan said. "It would be disrespectful to just leave them here."

"And Catalonia wouldn't forgive us if we just left them," Greenland said.

"Basque especially," Faroe said.

…

Kumajiro sighed, walking into the base. He had been on his own for some time, and when he sensed that Canada had returned to his land, he had started to make the journey to the house. He knew that the house that Canada was occupying at that moment was very important, and would need to be protected.

If Canada was at _that_ house, then it was being used.

Kumajiro shook himself, before he set out to find Canada. He found his owner in the kitchen, and Canada smiled when he saw his pet.

"Good to see you again, Kumajiro," Canada said. "What have you been up to all this time?"

"Keeping an eye on the other house," Kumajiro said. "And practicing."

Canada nodded his head, and Kumajiro took a deep breath. The nation was making pancakes. And after hunting for a while, the smell was most welcome.

"Want some?" Canada asked.

Kumajiro eagerly nodded his head, and Canada went over to a batch that was already finished. He put some of it on a plate and placed it on the ground for Kumajiro, who eagerly started to scarf down the food.

If there was one thing Kumajiro loved about Canada's mask, it was his cooking.

"I'm going to take some of this to our prisoner," Canada said cheerfully. "We don't want him to starve now, do we?"

Kumajiro didn't answer, not particularly caring. He didn't even know _who_ the prisoner was, but he knew what they were doing to him.

Why else come to the house that had the Washroom?

…

Russia, Japan and America were each carrying one of the corpses when they arrived. Russia was carrying Andorra with his uninjured arm, happy that the other nation was so small. For Russia, it was easy to carry him like a child. China's leg was injured, and it was already hard for him to support his own weight, let alone dead weight. So it was decided that he would be spared.

And Transnistria was too small to carry _any_ of them, and it had already been established that the last time they did the spell, Norway and the others had collapsed. It would be counterproductive and a bit disrespectful.

And as soon as they arrived, Norway collapsed, with Faroe and Greenland grabbing onto each other to stabilise themselves. Seeing this, the other nations came closer.

"Are you alright?" Ukraine asked.

"Da, we're fine," Russia said, before glancing towards his cargo. "Mostly."

"Are they…?" Turkey started.

"Did you have to bring them?" Syria asked.

"Yeah," America said. "There have been too many deaths. Now that I think about it, how many of them have received a proper burial? How many have just been left there? I've seen how they kill, and it's not pretty. How many of them have we abandoned? How many did they kill that we don't even know about? Would _they_ even make the effort of giving them a proper burial?"

"No," Norway said. "As far as I know, Finland still has Sweden and Denmark in his basement. They're content to just… _leave_ them there."

"And the bodies aren't in a good condition," Catalonia said. "Basque and I had gone by Spain's house. We… We gave him a proper burial, or as proper as we could have. They ripped his heart out. And the worst part that is that we were fighting with him. We… we didn't even get the chance to make up with him."

Syria shrank back. Everyone was silent.

"You're right," Netherlands said. "We haven't paid the dead much respect. Many of them died for nothing."

"While others sacrificed themselves," Russia said. "France, for example."

"You're trying to tell us that _France_ sacrificed himself?" Afghanistan scoffed.

"He knew that he was walking into a trap," Russia said. "And he was willing to go if only to gather intelligence for us. Austria sacrificed himself for the same purpose. France made sure that everyone knew what they were getting into, and they were all willing to sacrifice themselves in order to get even the smallest advantage."

Hungary was struck when she heard that Austria, the nation that she had to save on countless occasions, was willing to sacrifice himself. A small smile made its way to her face, and she felt a swell of pride in her chest. But that didn't change the fact that he was dead, and she wouldn't even be able to tell him that she was proud of him.

Netherlands, on the other hand, looked a little disturbed.

"My brother and sister were with that group as well," Netherlands said. "What happened to _them_?"

Norway groaned. He had been placed on a seat as soon as they arrived. He was still conscious, but it was clear that he was working hard to do so. It was probably because he still wanted to be part of everything, especially since he had been a prisoner of Amodi for quite some time. He wanted to make up for it, and he didn't want to be useless.

Plus, the meeting had been interrupted earlier.

"They were captured," Norway said. "They are being kept at the same place as Portugal, along with some of the other Dutch territories and former territories. It's to make things easier to get Netherlands."

"Why do they want me?" Netherlands asked.

"Because you're interested in Portugal. The more relationships they have among each other, the stronger they become. It also counts if they help forge relationships between prisoners. And Portugal's an important prisoner for them."

"How so?" China asked, looking a little annoyed.

"During the Age of Exploration, which nation was the first?"

"Portugal," Netherlands said. "Spain followed _very_ soon after."

"And because of that, there's a certain magic activated. Because he opened the doors, they feel that he would provide more opportunities. And he also makes the younger nations feel at ease. They feel it's important for their prisoners. And he's also the last among the Latin nations to not truly be a part of Amodi or dead. They also feel that he'd be more compliant with a lover. As though his former colonies aren't enough to keep him in line."

"And they decided that Netherlands is the best option?" Turkey asked. "Why's that?"

"Oh, because Netherlands is already part of a love triangle with Portugal," Norway said. "And the other nation that's interested in Portugal is someone high on their 'kill list'. So, they would do everything they could in order to get Netherlands and Portugal together."

China didn't look happy. And some of the others looked disturbed. Japan, on the other hand, looked contemplative.

"Are you telling me that Amodi ships Netherlands and Portugal?" Japan asked.

"I guess you could call it that," Norway said.

"No way," America said. "That's… I don't know what to think of that."

"I think it's sweet," Hungary said. "And I can just see Netherlands and Portugal together."

"No way!" Taiwan said. "I think China and Portugal are a better match."

"That's right," Thailand added. "And there's some justification. Macau is proof that Portugal and China are suited for each other."

"Impossible," Netherlands said. "China is too far away. It would make more sense that Portugal should be with me."

"As if!" China exclaimed. "The _enemy_ wants you two to be together. So naturally, it would be better if _I_ was with Portugal."

While the arguments were ongoing, Japan, Hungary and Taiwan were discussing something with a notebook out. There was a gleam in Hungary's eye, and Japan looked as though he was enjoying himself as well. It had been a long time since they could say that.

The Middle Eastern nations, for the most part, looked a little disturbed by the conversation. Turkey and Cyprus joined the discussion, and so did Oman. Afghanistan was facepalming because Pakistan was investing himself in the discussion as well.

"Perhaps we should compromise," Picardy said. "How about a ménage à trois?"

The others were struck silent, and China and Netherlands looked at each other, before fervently shaking their heads.

"Not going to happen," Netherlands said.

"Forget it," China said.

Hungary, Taiwan and Japan were frantically whispering, with Japan making notes. The room had launched into another argumentative discussion.

"Could you all just SHUT UP?!" Michoacán shouted. "This is not the time to discuss things like this! We need to get back on track! We're in the middle of a war. Do you really think that we should waste our time like this?!"

The others grew silent, staring at her. They settled down, looking embarrassed, though some of them had a small smile on their faces.

"Reminds me of old times," America said. "When there's not a war or anything going on."

"We never _could_ have a decent meeting," Russia said. "This noisiness… Makes me feel as though everything's back to normal."

"And looks like we have a new Germany," China said, smiling.

Michoacán blushed, retaking her seat. Jordan patted the other's shoulder.

"But she's right," Netherlands said. "This isn't the time for something like that."

Hungary looked disappointed, and Japan put the notebook away. Hungary whispered something to him quickly before moving away.

"But seriously, though," Netherlands said. "We _should_ get back on track. I mean, our enemies wouldn't be having a debate about something like this."

"Aren't _they_ the ones that started this?" China muttered.

…

Italy frowned.

"You know, for some reason, I feel as though we were dragged into an argument at a world meeting," Italy said.

"I know what you mean," Poland said. "What's that about, I wonder?"

…

Greece sighed in relief when the audio was turned off. He could hear one of them moving about, and swallowed nervously.

…What was that sweet scent?

"I figured you'd be hungry."

The voice sounded like Canada, and Greece felt his stomach drop. While he had an idea about Egypt by now, Canada was still someone that he didn't know very well. So he didn't know how cruel Canada could be.

"They're pancakes," Canada said. "And don't worry. They aren't drugged or anything. They're completely safe."

As the scent rolled over him in another wave, his stomach growled. Canada chuckled, and Greece swallowed thickly. He was hungry and thirsty. And possibly, it would seem that Canada was going to help him with the hunger.

"Open up," Canada said.

"W-wha…?" Greece started to ask, before a piece of pancake was stuffed into his mouth. "I… I can… feed myself."

"Nonsense," Canada said.

Greece had to tolerate it as Canada fed him. He was the prisoner, and had no choice in the matter.

He sighed, no longer able to eat a bite. Canada giggled.

"Had enough?" Canada asked.

"Yes," Greece said.

"Are you thirsty?"

"Yes."

"Then just hang on for a moment."

As Canada walked away, he had a wide smirk on his face. Kindness was a great tool to use in brainwashing.

…

"So, now what?" China asked.

"Do you remember what I said before we left?" Norway asked.

"Um, be more specific," America said.

"About our window of opportunity."

The others' eyes all widened.

"Of course!" Ukraine said. "There's a small window of opportunity for the prisoners to escape when a member of Amodi is killed."

"Tokyo was a member of Amodi," Greenland said. "And now he's dead."

"But there's no way that any of them would know about it, right?" Syria asked.

"Actually, there's _one_ nation that knows," Norway said. "And I think he knew when to escape."

"For real?" America asked. "Who is it?"

"Brazil."

…

"Nothing?" Romano asked, speaking on the phone. "Alright, continue your search."

Romano hung up, and he groaned as he plopped down onto the bed.

"Nothing?" India asked.

"Neither the police nor the mafia found any traces of him," Romano said. "We need to work harder."

"He's still part of our territory. He should be easy to find."

"Right."

…

Macedonia's body fell to the ground, and Romania chuckled. He turned to Bosnia.

"Have you thought about my question?" Romania asked. "What is it like to lose your other half?"

Bosnia swallowed thickly, averting his eyes. He remained silent, though, and Romania looked impatient.

"Well?" Romania prompted.

"It's hell," Bosnia said. "I'm feeling her people becoming a part of me. And some of them… They're killing themselves and each other. More than usual. Why?"

"When a nation dies without an heir, then there needs to be some sort of compensation. It comes in the form of ten percent of the people dying. Interesting. It seems as though it still applies to nations that have been split between two people. But you're not the first. I'm sure you and South Africa would have had a lot to talk about. But, that's not going to happen."

Bosnia clenched his eyes shut as Romania approached with the knife, a cold smile on his face.

"Don't worry about it," Romania said. "You will be joining your sister soon enough."

Bosnia screamed as the knife was plunged into his chest. Romania stuck his tongue out as he carved out Bosnia's heart. He finally held the heart in his hand, taking a bite before throwing it to the ground. He stomped on the heart, completely destroying it. He then took a step back, allowing the body to drop to the ground.

Romania turned his attention to Slovenia, and the latter shuddered. He knew that this was what Romania wanted.

What Romania had whispered to him earlier…

" _Serbia's land already belongs to us, and there's no need to kill him. There isn't even a reason to take him with us. But_ someone's _got to take care of him. At least until he recovers."_

Slovenia yelped when he was released, and he glared at Romania.

Romania would let him live. He would have to live with the guilt of not being able to do anything while his family was killed. And he would have to take care of Serbia. Until he recovered. And then…

Serbia would freak out when he regained all of his emotions. When he finally had time to process what had happened. And if Slovenia knew Serbia, then he _would_ freak out. And he wouldn't take it so well when the realisation hit that he just _sat_ there while they were being tortured and murdered.

That was the torture that Romania had selected for Serbia, which would be far worse than anything that the others had gone through.

"I'll see you soon," Romania said. "Take good care of Serbia for me."

Slovenia's eyes widened when Romania snapped his fingers, disappearing. Silence fell while Slovenia determined that Romania was truly gone, before heading over to Serbia.

"It's okay," Slovenia said. "It's going to be okay."

Slovenia looked up when he heard a footstep, and he looked up at General Winter.

"Russia told me not to leave if any of you are still alive," the General said. "And now that Romania's gone, I can complete my mission."

 **I wanted to add Confederacy and Mexico's fate after Pele, but was delayed each time. But now you know.**

 **Much of what Romania wanted to do to Serbia and Slovenia is what Slovenia himself realised would happen. Romania didn't have to spell it out for him.**


	72. Chapter 71

**Thanks to Ravenna, Kasierreich, Walon, StuffyJinx, Terra, Kattie, Elsa, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and HavenofUmbar.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

 **Chapter 71**

Slovenia stared at the General blankly, before turning to Serbia, who he had wrapped in his arms. Serbia didn't acknowledge any of this, and Slovenia hoped that he was truly unaware of what was going on around them.

"Why didn't you stop this?" Slovenia asked.

"Romania's magic prevented me from entering," the General said. "There was no way that I _could_ have helped."

Slovenia looked over towards the corpses of his family members.

"I should have listened," Slovenia said. "I should have told them to go with you while I went to look for Croatia. If I did, then they would still be alive."

"I am not one of sympathy," the General said. "I do not care about your regrets. I simply need to take you to Russia."

Slovenia hugged Serbia tighter before he nodded.

"I understand," he said. "Please, get us out of here."

"Very well," the General said.

…

Brazil was reading a newspaper that he had swiped from the airport. It was the Southern African newspaper that Amodi had apparently decided to integrate. He supposed that it was to warn their people of what was going on wherever their destination may be.

He was especially focusing on the South African side of things. It would seem that they were in fact integrating multilingualism in the education department, and South Africa's boss had been executed by Amodi members, since he was on his way to being a dictator and was doing more harm than anything else. Brazil figured that it was the justification Amodi used in order to get one of their own people in power.

Then again, he recalled how she had often dragged him to a bar in order to complain about her boss. And proved that she had some German heritage.

He wondered how she was reacting to this information. And he wondered if he could get a copy of the South American edition.

…

Italy was working in his office. There was a knock and he looked up, before San Marino entered.

"Why is it that you only knock when I'm not particularly busy?" Italy asked.

San Marino sighed.

"Romania called," San Marino said. "I think… you should be the one to judge if he was successful or not."

Italy raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" Italy asked.

"Well," San Marino began, "he's killed everyone except for Slovenia and Serbia. And the last two he _let go_."

Italy pursed his lips together, before he grabbed his phone. He called Romania's number and waited.

San Marino, meanwhile, slipped away, seeing that things might become ugly.

"I take it that San Marino's already reported to you," Romania said as soon as he answered.

"I was made to understand that you _let two of your targets go_ ," Italy said, his voice barely hiding his fury. "Now, explain."

"Serbia's been lobotomised," Romania explained. "I've done some experiments with that. Let's just say, those experiments presented interesting results."

"Such as?"

"A nation's land is transferred to whoever performed the lobotomy, since they're no longer fit to act as representative. Though, if a human performed the act, then the land is transferred again when they've recovered. It takes a while longer when it's transferred to a fellow nation. It's supposedly to give them enough time to recover. Anyway, just the act can mess with their minds. Not to mention what happens _after_ it's been performed."

"And how long does it take for the land to be returned?"

"I don't know. Everyone I've tested it on has committed suicide before it could happen. How do you think I managed to get permanent control of Transylvania?"

"Does Moldova know that little fact?"

"…No, and he never will."

"Fine. And what of Slovenia?"

"He's living on borrowed time. We'll find him again soon. I noticed the presence of General Winter when I went to visit them, so I think they were taken to Russia."

"Antarctica is on his way there now."

"Oh well. Hey, maybe you can call him to tell him to spare the one that acts like a vegetable and is possibly drooling."

"You can tell him yourself. Whatever. Thank you for at least getting rid of the other Yugoslavians."

"No problem. It was my pleasure."

"I'm sure."

Italy hung up the phone and sighed. He supposed that it was time to target another part of the world. He just needed to track down the instigators.

…

Everyone looked up when General Winter arrived. Russia smiled, but he frowned when he saw that only two nations were accompanying him.

"You were too late?" Russia asked.

"It is a long story," the General sighed. "Slovenia can explain it better. I have something else I need to deal with."

The General was gone, and Slovenia sighed, leading Serbia to a chair.

"What happened?" America demanded.

"I think we need to get him a room first," Slovenia said, looking at Serbia. "Romania did something worse than killing him."

"What could be worse?" Afghanistan asked.

"A lot of things," Hungary said. "Losing the people you care for, being unable to do anything…"

Slovenia flinched.

"That's the short of it," Slovenia said. "Romania made us watch as he tortured and killed everyone one by one. But he made it worse for Serbia. You know the kind of person he is, right?"

"Of course," Czech said. "He tends to act like a brother to those that need it."

"And he goes out of his way to make sure everyone is happy," Slovakia said. "He even apologises to his opponents during wars."

"And he would protect those that he's adopted as his younger siblings," Hungary said, smiling wistfully.

Slovenia averted his eyes and sighed.

"Romania performed a lobotomy on him," Slovenia said.

"Whoa, wait, what?!" America asked, horrified.

"He did it so that Serbia wouldn't feel anything while the people closest to him are killed," Slovenia said.

"Why go so far?" Ukraine asked.

"Because a nation can heal from this."

The Eastern Europeans especially looked horrified as the realisation dawned on them, and some of the other nations looked as though they realised the implication. Japan looked visibly disturbed, and Norway looked as though he was going to be sick.

"I don't really get it, though," Taiwan said. "Why's everyone looking so bothered?"

"Because, given the type of person Serbia-san is," Japan started to explain, "it would be a horrible torture."

"Think of it this way," China said. "How would _you_ feel if you watched everyone you cared for be killed in front of you, while you had no desire to help them?"

"Um," Taiwan stammered. "I… I would… I would regret it later."

"That's what it boils down to," Jordan said. "For a compassionate person like Serbia, it would be far worse."

"It _could_ be enough to drive a person completely insane," Michoacán said. "Especially since his capacity to feel so would return later."

"But, would he even remember something like that?" Russia asked. "In which case, it would be a pointless exercise."

"The way Romania talks, he's done his research," Slovenia said. "And he looked _very_ confident about it."

Hungary's hands twitched, and everyone knew that she was _aching_ to get her frying pan.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," she said. "I really _hate_ that guy."

…

Australia and New Zealand looked up when the door opened. Hutt River and Wy were standing there with plates of food.

"Here you are," Wy said, placing the plate she carried on the dresser. "Eat up."

They could already see that Wy looked older. She had at the very least grown a few centimetres. And Australia was reminded of the fact that his land was the reason that was happening.

"Thanks," New Zealand said listlessly.

After giving them their food, the two left. The two former nations knew that they were both feeling the same thing: absolute despair. And there was nothing that they could do about it.

…

Greece groaned in annoyance. The documentary had been turned on again.

Really, it was bad enough to have gone through the war a first time. Listening to everything that happened… Did he really need more of a reason to hate Turkey?

He was bored. So bored.

…

Poland was staring at Wales, before he sighed in frustration.

"So, what you're telling me is that Norway has made his way to Russia?" Poland asked.

"Exactly," Wales said.

Poland sighed in frustration.

"It would be nice to have him here alive," Poland said. "I would like to interrogate him in order to hear how _exactly_ he managed to escape. I'll just tell Antarctica to bring him in alive."

Wales arched an eyebrow.

"How will he know who to bring in?" he asked.

"We showed him pictures and had him memorise all of the nations' faces," Poland said offhandedly. "He's actually very smart. And physically the strongest member."

"Well, he _is_ a continent, I suppose."

"And basically, the only people that live in his land are scientists. Brain and brawn. A deadly combination."

…

Antarctica sighed, pulling out his phone again. He had already been called by Romania to inform him not to kill Slovenia and Serbia, and now someone else was texting him.

It was Poland, telling him not to kill Norway.

He had already received a list of nations to spare before he departed, and it looked as though the list only got longer.

He felt a change in the wind and stopped. He waited a while, and when he felt that the temperature was in fact falling he smirked.

"I presume you're General Winter?" Antarctica asked. "Russia's strongest line of defence. But it isn't winter yet. Do you think you can get me down?"

In response, the wind grew wild, bringing with it a flurry that would soon become a blizzard. The continent's smirk widened.

"Challenge accepted, then?" he asked.

…

After a long break in order to get Serbia settled as well as to place the corpses in a safe place, they were ready to resume.

"We were thinking of going to find our fallen comrades," Russia said. "It wouldn't be right to just leave them there."

"They deserve a proper burial," Japan said.

Slovenia nodded his head.

"I think it's the best," he said. "After the way they died, I wouldn't want to just leave them like that."

"I don't think I'll be using magic for that," Norway said. "You'll forgive me for not being suicidal."

"No dude, we understand," America said. "I think that we'll be able to go after them. We've already saved everyone in the Middle East. Or, you know…"

"Everyone in our capacity to save," Michoacán explained.

"And whoever said that we needed 'saving'?" Afghanistan asked.

"Well, it was either we go with them or we wait for them to kill us," Oman said.

"And the worst that's happened are two gunshot wounds," Yemen said. "But we _were_ late once or twice. With Emirates, for example."

"I can't believe I'm saying it," Kuwait said, "but we're better off with America."

Syria and Afghanistan exchanged a look. Clearly, they didn't actually believe that statement.

"So, you're volunteering to get all of the dead nations' bodies?" China asked.

America looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded his head.

"Just be careful not to get yourselves caught," Netherlands said.

"And if you do get caught," Russia said, "then be sure that you can withstand torture. You wouldn't want to reveal any information about us."

"Oh, that isn't the problem," Norway said. "Amodi employs torture because they want to. They're sadists, and torturing victims is done for fun. If they wish to interrogate someone, then they will try getting them drunk."

"What?" several nations asked.

"They figured out that people would say anything under torture to avoid the pain. It's pretty unreliable. But people aren't so resilient if they're completely drunk. It's actually considered to be one of the levels of drunkenness. So if you want to avoid giving anything away, then you better have a strong tolerance for alcohol."

"Oh, that is not a problem," Russia said cheerfully.

Some of the Middle Eastern nations, on the other hand, looked a little worried. Turkey appeared to be the only one _not_ concerned.

"I won't get caught," America said. "So, who's going with me?"

There was silence all around. America frowned.

"Come on," he said. "You guys don't expect me to go alone."

"Some of us aren't really willing to go with _you_ ," Vietnam said.

"I wouldn't mind," Yemen said. "But I'm still injured."

"Ditto for me," Oman said.

"I'm out too," China said. "Those bullets really hurt."

"Oh, that reminds me," America said, pulling out the gun. "Canada dropped this."

"Wait," Michoacán said. "Is that one of theirs?"

"That's right."

"That's the thing that killed Basque," Catalonia said.

"Didn't they do something to the bullets?" Oman asked, rubbing his side.

"Exactly," America said. "I figured we could check it out. And maybe replicate them."

"Are you serious?!" Afghanistan snapped. "Typical America."

"No, America has a point," Pakistan said. "If we can replicate them, then we have weapons with which we can fight back. And we can avoid any more deaths on our side."

Afghanistan sulked, and Syria looked bothered as well.

"So, who here is good with guns?" Turkey asked.

"Well me, obviously," America said.

"But you will be busy elsewhere," Russia said. "I'm not too bad with guns myself."

"I'm good as well," Michoacán said.

"The same with me," Afghanistan said reluctantly.

"Then those who can should work on that," Netherlands said.

"But seriously, who's going with me?" America asked.

"I'll go," Taiwan volunteered.

"No!" China snapped. "Hong Kong, Tibet and Macau have already been captured. I'm not risking you too."

"I would go," Japan said, "but I'll be busy with the satellites."

"And I'm not exactly the best person to go out," Norway said.

"And I need to look after Serbia," Slovenia said.

"I'll go," Pakistan said.

"Dude, you're a lifesaver," America said.

"I think I'll go too," Cyprus said.

"I have nothing better to do," Jordan said.

"Great," America said. "Thanks."

A few of the nations stared at America. It didn't escape their notice that America wasn't acting as hyper as usual. And as far as they could recall, America had never _thanked_ anyone for something. He had always projected this aura of a sense of entitlement. His old philosophy certainly established that. His philosophy that had made him expand his borders, and caused him to try and add Mexico and Canada's land to his. Actually, it was probably what had caused Canada and Mexico to join Amodi in the first place.

It was called 'Manifest Destiny', and when the nations in Europe and Asia had heard it, they weren't too impressed with him.

Well, it would seem as though America had grown more as a person.

"How soon do you want to leave?" Russia asked.

"Um, maybe that can wait until tomorrow," America said. "A lot happened, you know?"

"Very well. Anything else on the agenda?"

"I think we pretty much covered everything," Norway said.

"What about Brazil?" Netherlands asked.

"He has someone helping him out," Norway said. "Someone with the same status as General Winter."

"He does?" Russia asked. "Who?"

"The personification of the storms of the Cape of Good Hope," Norway said.

Netherlands winced.

"I see," he said. "I'm sure he'd take good care of Brazil."

"Bad memories?" China asked with a smirk.

"Better than England and Portugal," Netherlands remarked.

…

Venezuela frowned. Something was wrong. _Very_ wrong.

He pulled out his phone and called Argentina. She answered curtly.

"You can feel it too, can't you?" she asked.

"Si," he said. "What's going on?"

"It feels as though we've lost land area. A large amount of it."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. See if the others are aware of it as well. I'll go check on something else."

"Understood."

…

South Korea looked up when Italy approached.

"I have a little job for you," Italy said. "Get your brother and Philippines."

South nodded his head. He understood that they would have a job to do. They had been resting for a while, since many of their enemies would still be reeling from the loss of regions, but it would seem as though things would change.

It was probably to resume their previous job.

…

Finland snuggled up to Romania. After he had finished, Romania had returned to the house. He wasn't happy to learn that Norway had escaped, but was placated when he heard that Finland had already reported it to Poland. And that Iceland had been punished for his knowledge of it.

Romania hadn't been contacted by either Italy or Poland yet, so he didn't need to go after Norway yet, if at all. He wasn't exactly in the mood to go after someone again. He wanted to spend some more time with Finland.

After more than a century of being unable to be together, they wanted to make up for lost time. They knew that it was the same for the other couples.

The members of Amodi were bound together by love and hate. Hatred for the nations that had wronged them. Amodi provided the means to get revenge on those very nations. And through all that hate, they managed to find love. And so, the love between two nations was highly respected. And other than the love between the two nations, they were also connected to those that helped them get together in the first place. Italy and Poland, being the leaders. Romano, too, for starting it with Italy. And whoever introduced them to Amodi.

These were the bonds that kept them together. The bonds that made them stronger. They respected the Bonds. And if it could be avoided, they wouldn't interrupt two lovers.

They understood the bonds of love, and they could use it against their enemies. Such as what Romania did to the Yugoslavians. And ultimately, what they would use to completely destroyed their enemies. Those that they hated.

 **I got a guest review asking for the origin of the name 'Amodi'. The Latin words 'amo' and 'odi' combined into one. 'Love' and 'hate'. The last scene was also just to emphasise the bonds.**

 **Yeah, the president of South Africa? He fired several of the ministers and shuffled the departments around. For one thing, the former Minister of Sport and Recreation is not the Minister of Police. What would** _ **he**_ **know about** _ **that**_ **? And he fired the Minister of Finance, who mentioned that he found out the same way the rest of the country found out: on TV. So, one could add 'dishonourable coward' to his description. He also did it without consulting fellow leaders. Not even the vice-president knew. As mentioned above, he's becoming a dictator who just doesn't get the hint.**

 **Manifest Destiny was a doctrine that the US had which stated that it was their right to expand all throughout North America. My history lecturer a few years ago showed us a video that pretty much described it.**

 **The Cape of Good Hope used to be called the Cape of Storms. It was one of the reasons why the Portuguese weren't so fond of coming this way. Adamastor did his job. Two other nations that frequented that route were England and Netherlands. And asides from the storms, they had the Khoi to deal with. Netherlands was the first whose first meeting with the Khoi went well.**


	73. Chapter 72

**Thanks to HavenofUmbar, Terra, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Elsa, Kattie, StuffyJinx, pastaddict, ScandinavianTrash and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 72**

Bulgaria and Moldova went to Iceland's room. The Northern European hadn't emerged from his room for a while, and they wanted to make sure that he was alright.

They were well aware that Romania had returned, and thanks to Iceland, they knew what he had been doing. It was for that reason that Bulgaria and Moldova were afraid of running into him.

Iceland appeared to be asleep, and they hesitated at the door. Bulgaria was the one to go closer, and he placed his hand on Iceland's shoulder. Iceland groaned, before opening his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Bulgaria asked gently.

"Yeah," Iceland mumbled. "I had a headache. It's better now, but it still feels as though there's static in my skull."

"What did he do to you?"

"He made me listen to metal."

"Oh. I thought you guys liked that type of music."

"Not if every band is playing at the same time."

Bulgaria flinched. There was one time during a world conference where his hotel room was nestled between two nations that had decided to bring their music with them. And they didn't care much about volume control.

If two had almost driven Bulgaria insane, then he could only imagine what it was like to listen to _every_ band of a particular genre.

And Bulgaria was well aware of how many sub-genres could be found. He knew that Romania often listened to gothic and symphonic metal.

"Do you want me to bring you something?" Bulgaria asked. "Food? An aspirin?"

"Both sound nice," Iceland muttered.

Bulgaria nodded, before leaving the room. Moldova hung around for a moment before following after Bulgaria.

…

Slovenia was stroking Serbia's hair. The latter had fallen asleep, and Slovenia could pretend that nothing was wrong. That he was simply tired and had gone to sleep. That his personality wasn't the one that had gone to sleep.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped. He turned around to see Ukraine, looking at him sympathetically.

"It's been really hard on you, hasn't it?" Ukraine asked.

"Of course," Slovenia said. "I lost everyone in my family. And the only one I have left is _still_ lost to me."

"And I lost my sister," Ukraine said. "She's part of the enemy. And she is filled with so much hatred for us. And I know that she wouldn't hesitate to kill us, should the opportunity present itself."

"Is this how humans feel? Having someone you cared about – friends, family – utterly hate you? Wanting to kill you? Having someone you know go after the people that you love?"

"Throughout all the wars, we knew that nothing of it was personal, or at least not too personal. We've always served the will of our bosses. Our people. But this…"

"We've never dealt with a war like this. We're out of our element. And Romania and the others have _prepared_ for it. It's obvious that he's done it before – torturing and killing a nation."

"But it's impossible, isn't it? I mean, they couldn't have gotten away with it."

"They couldn't have gotten away with it in _this_ century, or even the last. But before… Romania used to be called Wallachia. It's now a region of Romania. But there are others. Why did _he_ become the nation? What happened to the others?"

Ukraine was silent. It sometimes happened that a nation was simply the strongest out of several regions that came together to form the nation. Or that, out of the combined regions, a new nation emerged. The latter case was what happened to Germany. Long talks with Prussia during the Cold War had revealed as much.

But, what of the _former_ case?

They didn't hear of those cases very often, but _why_?

Slovenia was thinking along the same lines. He also couldn't help but recall what had happened with Romania earlier. Romania had seemed as though he had done all of it before. That he had experience with torturing nations.

"Quebec," Slovenia said. "I need to ask him something."

…

They looked up when the door opened. They tensed when they saw North and South Korea, along with Philippines.

"What is it?" Laos asked.

"We've been given instructions," South said. "We're to attack the Asian nations."

"What are you going to do to us?" Tibet asked.

"You two are meant to help us get to China," South said. "And now you will."

Philippines grabbed onto Laos, North grabbed Tibet, and South grabbed Hong Kong. They were all restrained, with Tibet and Hong Kong being pinned to the floor.

"No!" Laos shouted. "What are you going to do now?"

"Wow," Philippines said. "For a prophet, you're pretty bad at it. Don't worry. Nothing at all will happen to _you_."

South and North each injected their prisoner with a syringe, and Laos's panic grew.

"What is that supposed to do?" Laos asked.

"They're connected to China, but at the same time they're separate," South said. "This little potion makes the connection more profound. Which means whatever _they_ feel, _China_ will feel."

Upon hearing that, Hong Kong and Tibet struggled desperately. North smirked.

"I think I'll show China a little déjà vu," North said.

…

China whimpered, hugging his hand to his chest. It felt as though his fingers were being broken one by one. But upon checking for damage, there was nothing to be seen. It didn't _look_ broken.

And it wasn't just his fingers. His shoulders as well. But instead of feeling broken, his shoulders felt as though acupuncture needles were being applied incorrectly.

What was going on?

…

Venezuela sighed in frustration, clenching his phone. Chile and Peru confirmed the same thing: they felt the absence of land.

He dialled Argentina's number, knowing that she wouldn't be very happy.

"We all feel the same thing," Venezuela said. "There's a large land area missing."

"Since we all feel it, then it means it's in South America," Argentina said. "And I think I know where. The only thing I can't quite figure out is how it's possible."

"I take it that it's news the bosses wouldn't like."

"Oh yeah."

…

Afghanistan sat as far away from America as possible as the two of them, along with Michoacán and Russia, took apart the gun. America was analysing the different pieces of the weapon, while Michoacán seemed more interested in the bullets.

"I don't see anything different about the gun," America announced.

"Well, they _did_ say that they doctored the bullets," Michoacán said.

"Yeah, by making them nuclear. But there's still no way that a regular gun should be able to take it."

Russia picked up one of the pieces, examining it closely. Afghanistan took another piece.

"There's something on the casing here," Michoacán said, handing one of the bullets to America.

America examined it, a frown on his face.

"There's something about these bullets," America said. "Hey, what kind of metal is this?"

Afghanistan took another bullet, examining it closely. She frowned.

"It looks like gold," she said. "But isn't gold a soft metal?"

"Yeah," America said. "Unless there's another metal inside."

"These aren't your normal bullets either," Michoacán said. "And this gun…"

"It's not something you can get on the market," Russia said. "I think they designed this themselves."

"Again, with what material?" America mused.

"I wonder if they did something to the metals," Michoacán pondered.

"What do you mean?" Afghanistan asked.

Michoacán was the only one that Afghanistan was willing to acknowledge at this point. Neither America nor Russia were nations that she liked.

"It's just a theory," Michoacán said. "The bullet is most definitely gold, but it doesn't appear to be _pure_ gold. It's been doctored somehow. I think it's also true with the weapon itself."

Russia looked thoughtful, before he turned to Afghanistan.

"Could you perhaps get Hungary for me?" he asked.

"I am not your servant!" Afghanistan snapped.

"No, you are a comrade, and I would like to speak with Hungary."

"Then why don't _you_ go find her?"

"Could you _please_ not argue?" Michoacán sighed.

Afghanistan shot the state a look. She still respected Michoacán, and she could tell that she was only trying to avert the crisis. So with a sigh, Afghanistan stood to start searching for Hungary.

Hungary was with Czech and Slovakia, and Afghanistan was reminded of another time when she saw the three of them at a coffee shop during one of the world conferences, along with… Poland. And Afghanistan knew why Russia wanted to speak with Hungary. Because she was close with Poland, or at least Poland allowed them to think that they were friends.

It was the same way that the 'Stan nations tended to hang out together – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Sometimes it was because of friendship, and sometimes because of geographical links. But often, they knew enough about each other. That was probably what Russia was going for.

"Hungary," Afghanistan said, "Russia wants to see you."

Hungary stared at her for a moment before she stood from her seat. Afghanistan felt slightly irked when she noticed Czech and Slovakia standing too, but maybe they could have some useful information as well. And so Afghanistan led the way back to where they had been working.

Russia smiled when they arrived.

"Hungary, you know Poland and Italy well, da?" Russia asked.

"I thought I did," Hungary said.

"Do you know if either of them were interested in chemistry?"

"Chemistry?" Afghanistan repeated. "How'd you arrive to _that_ conclusion?"

"These metals have been tampered with," Michoacán said. "The only way to do that is if someone's good enough with chemistry and/or physics to be able to alter a _metal_ , most likely at an atomic level."

"You wanted to know if either of them are good with chemistry?" Hungary asked.

"Yes please," America said.

Afghanistan threw America a look. She didn't recall him ever saying 'please'.

"Poland had chemistry as a hobby," Czech said. "He didn't want anyone to know. Said it would make him look like a dork."

"He might have just said it to keep you quiet," Michoacán said. "He didn't want people to know that he was smarter than previously thought."

"That _does_ sound viable," Afghanistan said. "So, Poland likes chemistry?"

"It seems like that," America said. "And physics?"

"It's possible as well, though I haven't seen anything like that in his house," Czech said.

"Remember, they also have magic on their side," Michoacán said. "It's possible that they could have combined it."

"Basically alchemy?" Slovakia asked.

"It's possible," Hungary said.

"All this for _guns_?" Afghanistan asked.

"They wanted to kill nations," Michoacán said. "If they wanted that, then they'd most likely pull out all the stops."

America had been tampering with one of the bullets, and he frowned.

"Hey, this looks strange," America said. "Who's got good eyes? Mine aren't that good."

Michoacán took the bullet from him, and she scrutinised it as well.

"This part almost looks as though it's been glued together," she said. "Should we open it?"

"Perhaps we should wait just a while," Russia said. "You said something about the bullets being 'nuclear', da?"

"He's got a point," America said. "We shouldn't go further until we're prepared, in case they _have_ made it nuclear."

"Alright then," Afghanistan said. "In that case, I'm going to go wash my hands of this. Literally."

"I'll go too," Michoacán said, standing up hastily.

…

They looked up when someone entered. Quebec looked at Slovenia, and he knew that there was business to discuss.

"I want to know something," Slovenia said. "What happened to all the regions of the Amodi nations?"

Quebec drew his finger across his throat, in the universal language saying someone has been killed, or was going to be killed.

"At what points in time?" Slovenia asked. "Before they became the nations, or after?"

"Sometimes… after," Quebec said.

"And the other times?"

"…During."

"What's this about?" Gibraltar asked.

"We were talking," Ukraine said, "and we realised something. Tell me, how much do you know about the relationship between nations and regions?"

"We know enough," Madeira said. "What specifically?"

"Regions that became nations," Ukraine said. "And what happened with the remaining regions."

"Well," Picardy said, "usually, they would decide to unite, and the strongest becomes the nation. Or they would fight to see which one is on top. Eventually they might disappear, but if a nation decides to keep them around, then they'll stay. Sometimes the nation isn't even aware of their existence until later. And sometimes when the region's people have developed a sense of individuality from the nation."

"We were wondering how Romania got so good at torturing and killing nations," Slovenia said.

"They would… practice," Quebec said. "Their regions… experiments."

Ukraine and Slovenia exchanged a look, and the others looked disturbed.

"We had a feeling," Slovenia said. "Like how he knew how long a nation would heal from a lobotomy."

"But, regions take longer to heal than nations," Isle of Man said. "Unless…"

"Unless one of them gave a region nation-status," Madeira said. "In which case…"

"Experiments," Greenland said, growing pale. "That's how they managed to make preparations."

Quebec nodded, drawing into himself. The others turned to him. They all understood that he was also one of Amodi's experiments. The only difference was that he hadn't been killed. But Amodi would try.

They already _have_ tried, after all.

"Thank you," Ukraine said. "I'm sorry that we brought up this difficult subject."

"I wonder if they did the same to their capitals," Isle of Man mused.

"I… I don't know," Quebec said.

"Capitals have a different mechanic," Picardy said. "For one thing, the nation consciously has to bring them into being."

"Let's hope that they didn't have the same fate as the regions," Greenland said.

…

The three Amodi members had left, leaving Laos with two injured part-nations. Tibet was hugging his broken fingers to his chest, while Hong Kong was rubbing his shoulders.

"Do you think that they were right?" Laos asked. "That your injuries would be passed on to China?"

"A part of me hopes so," Hong Kong said. "Otherwise, it feels meaningless."

"Is this why they keep us here?" Tibet asked. "In order to torture us and then pass on the injuries to China?"

"And what happens if China dies?"

The three of them were silent as realisation struck. If China was killed, then they wouldn't have a purpose anymore. And…

"Best not to dwell on it too much," Laos said. "Let's hope that China will be able to best them."

"And let's hope that it doesn't take too much retaliation," Hong Kong said.

…

China shook Norway's shoulder. The Nordic had decided to take a nap, but China needed him awake. Norway groaned, cracking one eye open. China would have shuddered by the cold look, but he had more important things to deal with.

"What?" Norway said.

"Do you know of any attacks made to my land?" China asked.

"Not directly," Norway said. "They used a potion to transfer the pain of injuries inflicted to someone on to you."

"Who?"

"Someone that has some connection to your land."

China's eyes widened.

"Hong Kong," he muttered. "Tibet. Macau."

"Not Macau," Norway said. "They need him for Portugal."

"Still… What do they want with them?"

"Basically, for the same purpose as what they just did."

"Bastards."

"I think that's the general sentiment, of course."

Norway grew silent, a thoughtful look on his face.

"China, what would you say if I told you that I know the location of each of their bases?" Norway asked.

China's eyes widened.

"Why didn't you say that?" China demanded.

"Because in all the locations that would qualify as a base, they have hostages," Norway said. "And unless we managed to kill at least one member of Amodi each time, then we wouldn't be able to save them at all."

China gritted his teeth.

"You may be right," China said. "We would really need to plan it out. We don't want to take any chances."

…

Belarus sighed, returning to the base. She didn't really enjoy going on errands, but since it would serve to bring about Russia's downfall…

"You finally returned."

Belarus's eyes widened when she was swept into a hug. She looked into North's smiling face. She smiled as well.

"I see your tongue's recovered," Belarus said, before reaching up to kiss him. "I missed hearing you speak."

"And I missed being able to speak," North said. "Now, I can tell you once again just how beautiful you are."

"Why does this always happen to _me_?" someone interrupted.

The two separated to see San Marino standing there, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. North and Belarus exchanged a look.

"I think I know what Poland and Italy are always complaining about," Belarus said.

…

Antarctica smiled as he continued to walk. So far, General Winter hadn't showed himself. The only way that Antarctica could tell that the General was even _there_ was because the temperature kept dropping and the wind kept rising.

He chuckled, before he removed his jacket, if only to mess with General Winter's head. The fact that he wasn't bothered by the cold should really alarm the General. And perhaps scare him.

"You'll have to do better than that," Antarctica said. " _You_ are General 'Winter'? Funny. In my lands, this is what I consider to be _Summer_. You're going to have to up your game if you want to stop me. Perhaps you should even show yourself."

The wind shifted, and Antarctica stopped. He knew that the General was about to do something. Perhaps the game would _really_ start.

Instead, the temperature simply fell again, and Antarctica sighed.

"The way they were speaking made it sound as though you were some sort of monster," Antarctica said. "Some kind of force to be reckoned with. And all you're doing is disappointing me. And you're supposed to be a line of defence? Pathetic."

The wind shifted again, and a figure came into view. Antarctica smirked as he saw what he assumed to be the General.

"At last, you show yourself," Antarctica said.

"Who are you?" the General demanded. "Are you with Amodi?"

"Of course I am. My name is Antarctica."

 **I realised I forgot Gibraltar as well.**

 **Friday there was a nationwide protest. Everyone's screaming "Zuma must fall!" (It's actually the name of the campaign). The protest was actually peaceful (which is odd for South African standards), but there were a few troublemakers. They went around claiming that the protest was 'imperialistic' and an attempt for 'white supremacy'. There have also been reports of black people going to wage war on white people in an attempt to discourage the protests. My mom suggested that those people making trouble are unemployed and were bribed by the ANC (which is what they would do, actually). But everyone that they've interviewed said that it has nothing to do with black or white, but about South Africa. And everyone agrees that the best thing for the country is to get that unethical, greedy, immoral, selfish, racist, cowardly** _ **idiot**_ **out of power. So, we're hoping for the best here.**

 **I've added a poll to my profile. It's to see who you guys want to win. It might influence the outcome of the story.**


	74. Chapter 73

**Thanks to Terra, cute flowers, Alans, Kattie, Elsa, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 73**

Brazil shook himself. He had dozed off slightly, but when he felt the plane starting to descend he realised that they would be landing soon.

He needed to get ready. He wouldn't want himself to be caught, after all. That would make all his efforts up to this point become futile.

And he didn't want that. He wanted to save South Africa, by any means necessary. And he didn't want anyone to stand in his way.

…

Italy was fuming, staring at a map. Argentina had called him, and what she had to say made him both furious and afraid.

Argentina had told him that she and the other South Americans felt the loss of land. And when she went to see _what_ was missing, she learned that _somehow_ , Brazil had broken free of their control.

But _how_? How was it possible?

They had been very thorough before they set about their mission. They made sure that none of their allies would be able to betray them. That none of the nations they've taken control of could run away from them. That none of _them_ would be able to sell any information to their enemies.

But it seemed as though _every day_ , they were shown that they hadn't been thorough _enough_. There was the mistake of Black and White South Africa. Norway running away. And now _Brazil_?

It was getting ridiculous. How was Brazil able to escape? They had already found out about how it was possible for Norway, but how did _Brazil_? He still had his status as nation, so he couldn't have escaped the same way that Norway did. So _how_?

Italy shook his head. Perhaps, for now, he shouldn't focus on the 'how'. He had another thing to do.

…

Romano yanked the phone away from his ear as a string of Italian profanities assaulted his ears. To say that Veneziano was angry would be an understatement.

But Romano knew the reason for it. Because somehow, Brazil had managed to escape from him. They had lost a rather large land area, and Romano was the one responsible for losing it.

When it sounded as though the string of profanities was dying down, Romano put the phone against his ear again.

"Are you finished?" Romano asked.

"Are you listening again?" Italy asked sarcastically.

Romano flinched. Italy was well aware of what he had done.

"I think I might know where he's going," Romano said. "I figured that it seemed strange."

"Explain," Italy ordered.

"He's in love with White South Africa," Romano said. "He was broken-hearted when he heard that we're helping Israel get together with her, and that there was no way _he_ would get together with her. But he recovered a little _too_ soon."

"He _knew_ ," Italy growled. "He knew that there was a way to escape our hold. He was just biding his time. But… why? What was he waiting for?!"

Romano took a deep breath.

"Do you want me to ask around?" Romano asked. "See if the other prisoners know something?"

"Si," Italy said. "Do what you must. So… You think that he might be on his way to South Africa?"

"I'm almost certain."

"Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned. He would go to rescue her, and once she's free he'd watch her die. However, he's already proven that he knows how to escape from us. We can't risk him getting to her."

"I take it you'll take care of it?"

"Of course. No matter what, we can't allow Brazil to reach South Africa."

"Then I'll start with the interrogations, and we'll find out whether or not the others know. If he indulged his secret, then we have to make sure that none of the others could run away too."

"Then do your part."

Romano flinched.

"Si," Romano said. "I understand."

…

"Alright!" America exclaimed. "Dinner is served!"

Some of the Middle Eastern nations and China looked on in disgust as America started to scarf down the dinner set in front of him. Though they were the ones that laughed the hardest when America belatedly realised that some of the food was spicy.

Michoacán was one of the cooks, after all.

"I _did_ mention that some of that is Mexican cuisine, right?" Michoacán asked, hiding her own smirk.

"You're too cruel," America whined.

"Perhaps America could benefit from listening to his comrades, da?" Russia asked with a smile.

America stuck out his tongue petulantly.

"Never a dull moment, huh?" Taiwan asked.

Norway was staring at America with an odd look.

"You're too much like Denmark," Norway whispered.

The nations surrounding Norway had heard him, and they all looked at the former nation in concern. A reminder of one's loss…

China cleared his throat, and everyone turned their attentions to him.

"Norway said that he knows where Amodi's bases are," China said.

"Seriously?" America asked, and everyone turned to Norway. "Dude, why didn't you tell us?"

"Because at each one they have hostages," Norway said. "And if we don't manage to kill at least one of them, then it would be useless. And there's a chance that we might cause all of the prisoners to die if we make even one mistake."

The others were silent as they processed the information.

"How many at each base?" Russia asked.

"Canada currently only has Greece at his base," Norway said. "Finland has three prisoners: Bulgaria, Moldova and Iceland. At the main base in Vatican, they have New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Tibet and Laos. There were a lot of other prisoners there, but once they've lost their use, they were sent back to their own homes, or… or they were killed. And at Romano's base… Every Portuguese-speaking nation, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Caraçao, Belgium and Luxembourg."

"It other words, the largest amount of prisoners are with Romano," Netherlands said. "If we mess up _there_ …"

"A _lot_ of prisoners," Vietnam said.

"Israel has South Africa," Norway said. "But they travel together. She doesn't even know that he's a member of Amodi."

"How could she not know?" China asked.

"When she was kept prisoner at their base, he would often go to her to offer comfort. He told her that he was a prisoner too, but that he was given permission to wander free, and that they still had a leash on him. That leash was _her_. They invoked Stockholm syndrome on her in order to get her on Israel's side."

Netherlands gritted his teeth.

"Bastards," Netherlands muttered. "When I get my hands on them…"

"If it's any consolation," Norway said, "Brazil's on his way there."

"Since he knows the loophole," China said, "he might be able to get her out."

"That is good, da?" Russia said. "We might be able to save someone else."

"Amodi's not so untouchable anymore," Turkey said. "We can _finally_ gain the upper hand."

…

"Why do they call it the 'Johannesburg' International Airport?" Brazil mused. "The nearest place is Boksburg, isn't it?"

"Johannesburg is the name most easily recognised," Adamastor said. "And… Boksburg doesn't have a particularly good reputation."

"I see. So, where exactly is she?"

"In the _actual_ Johannesburg."

"Then I guess that's where we're going. Good thing I have you with me."

"Remember, I won't interfere when you finally run into them."

"I know that this is something that I need to do on my own," Brazil said. "Now, I should probably look for a taxi."

"I-I wouldn't recommend it. Even before Amodi came, the taxis aren't the most reliable method. And even though they have done an admittedly good job at fixing some errors in the country, they haven't managed to do anything to the taxi services."

Brazil was silent for a moment.

"What are my odds of succeeding if I rent a car?" Brazil asked.

"With what currency?"

"All nations have a cache in other nations' lands. We can access it at any airport."

"And if they catch on?"

"The humans in charge are sworn to secrecy. Their allegiance is to their nation. If I tell them that my only goal is to help South Africa, then they would be more than willing to help."

"And if you _do_ manage to rent a car, do you think you can drive it? They use manual here."

"I can drive manual _and_ automatic."

"You know that they drive on the left side here, right?"

Brazil paused.

" _That_ might be a problem," Brazil said. "It's going to take some getting used to."

…

Israel gripped his phone tightly. This… this couldn't be.

White was currently in the bath, so he wasn't too worried about her walking in on him. Which meant that he could speak to Italy as much as he wanted to.

Italy had informed him that Brazil had somehow escaped, and that he was on his way to South Africa. Apparently he was also in love with her. And he would most likely come to pull her away from him.

He couldn't allow it.

Around his right hand the red ribbon appeared, and around the left hand a black ribbon appeared. Brazil had become an enemy of Israel. And he wouldn't allow Brazil to come between him and White.

"I'm sending a few of the others to capture him," Italy said. "We'll try our best to keep him out of your sights. But if they can't, then… We want him alive. I want to ask him a few questions."

"I can't guarantee that he'll be in one piece then," Israel said. "But if he makes things difficult for us…"

"Do whatever you want."

"With pleasure."

…

Portugal gulped nervously. Romano had called him in to discuss something. But Romano's expression and voice were cold. Portugal could see that Romano was furious.

It didn't help that the door had been locked. And Portugal noticed that there were many boxes lining the walls.

Portugal jumped when a glass of wine had been placed in front of him. Romano smirked.

"Why are you so scared?" Romano asked. "No need to worry. Why don't you have a drink?"

Portugal stared at the wine, not moving at all.

"What's wrong?" Romano asked.

"What's in the wine?" Portugal demanded.

"I'm offended. Do you think I would tamper with wine? This is merely a special blend. Made it myself."

Portugal stared at the glass for a moment, before he accepted the glass. He gulped it down, before his face twisted.

"This is _wine_?" he gasped. "Seems a little strong."

"It has double the amount of alcohol," Romano said. "Gives it more of a kick, with the rich flavour of wine."

Portugal's eyes widened when he saw Romano refilling the glass.

"Drink up," Romano said, before he poured a glass for himself.

"You said you wanted to discuss something with me," Portugal said. "What is it?"

Romano took a small sip of his wine, and Portugal could see in his eyes that he looked angry.

Portugal missed the old Romano. It had been so easy to see that he was mad, and it was easier to deal with him. But now… Portugal had no idea how to deal with this Romano.

"Brazil," Romano said, startling Portugal. "He actually managed to escape from us, without dying. We already know that our precautions to prevent something like that are working, so he must have found another way. I want you to tell me what you know."

Portugal was silent. Brazil… had escaped. He was safe. He was away from _them_. He was… free.

Romano frowned.

"Drink up," Romano ordered.

Portugal looked at the glass, and he knew that he didn't have much of a choice. He took the glass and downed its contents.

No sooner had he put the glass down than Romano refilled the glass. Portugal barely suppressed a whimper.

"Drink up," Romano said.

"You… You're trying to get me drunk, aren't you?" Portugal asked. "You want me to get drunk enough so I wouldn't be able to lie to you."

Romano smirked.

"This is why we liked you more than Spain," Romano said. "You're a lot smarter, and you're not as infuriating. Drink up."

Portugal gritted his teeth.

"I don't know anything," Portugal said. "Brazil wouldn't tell me. All he told me was that he had found a source of hope."

Romano narrowed his eyes.

"You're not at the point where I'll believe anything you say," Romano said. "Drink."

Portugal flinched, before he downed the glass again. He was already starting to feel the buzz. And he knew that it would only take a few more glasses for him to be drunk enough.

But he had a feeling that if he didn't drink voluntarily, then Romano would become impatient, and he might decide to _force_ Portugal to drink.

"Drink all you like," Romano said. "I've got enough for everyone."

Portugal looked around at all the boxes lining the walls. He knew that they contained more bottles. And he knew that the others would be forced to drink until they could no longer even _think_ of lying.

"Drink," Romano ordered.

…

"This sucks," Belarus said.

"I know," Switzerland said. "But it must be done."

The two of them were on a plane heading to South Africa, along with Wales. They were tasked with the job of making sure that Brazil didn't meet up with White, and they would retrieve him.

Wales had used his magic to make sure that they wouldn't be going the wrong way, but it had been confirmed that Brazil's destination had in fact been where they thought it would be. Wales was also going along to ensure that they would be able to track him down.

"I just came back from an errand," Belarus said. "Why do I have to go on a mission? Jeng…"

"It _is_ a little mean of them," Switzerland said. "I don't mind as much since I got to spend so much time with Yong. But for you… I understand that it's a little cruel."

Wales was listening to them patiently. He didn't have a lover, and a part of him envied those that did. But seeing the state Belarus was in after being separated from her lover, perhaps it was a good thing that he was still single.

…

Greece sighed in relief. The audio had finally stopped. He was free.

"If only the actual war had been over so quickly," Egypt said. "Turkey has made you go through a lot, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," Greece said. "I'm so bored now. Can I just sleep?"

"Only for a little while."

Greece sighed in relief, and he started to drift off. He didn't hear the other's chuckle.

…

Turkey sighed. He had Hungary, Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon in his room. It was time for their own meeting.

"I think we're all agreed that we need to get the brat back," Turkey said.

"Who knows what they're doing to him?" Cyprus asked.

"We _could_ ask Norway," Hungary suggested.

"We'll need to ask him anyway where the base is," Turkey said. "He said that Greece is the only person being held at that specific base. Shouldn't be too hard to get him then."

"If it gives me a chance to get away from here, then I don't mind," Syria said.

"I need to repay Greece for what he did for me," Lebanon said. "If he didn't go with them, then Egypt would have… I also feel guilty. If it wasn't for me, then Greece wouldn't even be placed in that situation."

"Yeah," Turkey said. "I talked him into it. And hopefully he won't be too angry."

…

Puerto Rico had managed to steal a car, and he and Liechtenstein were already on their way to their next victim. They wondered how long it would take America to notice that he was losing his states. And they wondered how America would be planning to retaliate.

…

Greece cried out in pain. If one could define a rude awakening, then that would be it.

"Wakey, wakey," Canada's voice said. "Had a nice nap?"

"Why are you doing this?" Greece groaned.

"Why are we doing what?" Canada asked innocently.

Greece groaned again. He was really starting to hate them.

"Out of curiosity," Canada said, "what would you be doing if you weren't here?"

"Probably be waiting for something to happen," Greece said.

"Sounds pretty boring."

"Wasn't as boring as now."

"And Turkey traded you in for Lebanon. Doesn't sound very fair, does it? He didn't look as though he was hesitating. As though he was eager to get rid of you."

Greece swallowed thickly. His mind was blurry. He couldn't quite comprehend what was going on anymore.

"That was just horrible of Turkey," Canada said. "Don't you just wish he would drop dead? He'd been around long enough, after all. And all the damage he's caused…"

Greece couldn't help but think about all of the things he heard from the documentary. There were things missing, he knew it. All that he could think about was all the things that Turkey had done to him. And how Turkey didn't get a proper punishment for all the things he'd done to Greece, even _before_ that war.

Greece was unaware of the smile on Canada's face, knowing the kind of thoughts going through Greece's mind.

"I think I'll turn on some music now," Canada said.

Greece sighed in relief when he heard the music start playing. At least it wasn't yet another documentary. But he knew that he was probably going to be kept awake yet again.

Canada walked away, a smile on his face. He could see that Greece's mind was becoming more pliable to them. He seemed to be having trouble thinking contradictorily to what he was told. The sleep deprivation was catching up to him, and he couldn't argue against what they were saying. And his thoughts were following their direction.

And the direction they were going in would lead to Greece killing his former allies. Greece wasn't completely Amodi's territory, so he still had the option of escaping. But even then, he would run back to Amodi.

Soon enough, he would feel that that was the only place where he belonged.

 **In spite of its name, Johannesburg International Airport is closer to Boksburg. I myself am not completely sure about Boksburg's reputation, but whenever someone introduces themselves and say they're from Boksburg, they either apologise or wave it off by saying they're not like that. Though they're usually off the hook whenever someone from Brakpan is around. Brakpan is essentially the South African version of New Jersey. It should also be noted that 'brak' is the Afrikaans word for 'mutt'. But back to the airport. The place that is closest is Kempton Park, but again, not as big a name as Boksburg. Boksburg is still closer to the airport than Johannesburg.**

 **I did some research, and apparently Brazil likes manual transmissions, just like South Africa. The problem is, a lot of driving manual relies on muscle memory. Therein lies the problem, since they drive on different sides of the road. The muscles don't have the right memories.**

 **South Africa likes to use minibus taxis, and let's just say it's not the safest mode of transportation. It should also be noted that on Wikipedia's page for organised crime, the South African taxi wars have a section which also has a link to that particular article. So, if you're ever in South Africa, avoid the taxis.**


	75. Chapter 74

**Thanks to Elsa, Kattie, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior, StuffyJinx and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 74**

Norway wasn't very impressed when he was woken first thing in the morning, but when he saw Turkey looking at him so seriously, he knew that the other was there on business.

"We need you to tell us where Greece is," Turkey said.

Norway looked around at all the others. He could see them looking earnestly at him.

"You want to save him?" Norway asked.

"Obviously," Cyprus said.

Norway stared at them for a while before smirking.

"The only one who's not going to suffer is Hungary," Norway said. "They're in Canada."

"Joy," Syria sighed.

"Okay, so it's in Canada," Turkey said. "Anything else you can tell us?"

Norway stared at them for a while, before he lowered his head.

"The base where he's being kept has what they call 'The Washroom'," Norway said. "It's equipped for the purpose of brainwashing their victims."

"Brainwashing?" Cyprus asked, eyes wide.

"How much damage could they do?" Turkey asked.

"They're very good at what they do," Norway said. "I don't know the particulars, but they've been at it for a while now. If they wanted to, then all they would need is an hour."

The others all grimaced, realising that they had really done a lot of damage to Greece. And they would need to get him out of there as fast as possible.

"There isn't a chance that you could take us there, is there?" Hungary asked. "Save us some time?"

Norway groaned, falling back on his bed.

…

Brazil had driven through the night, and he had managed to find a guest house where he could stay. He was just glad that the owner was Portuguese. It had been easier to convince her to let him stay. And he knew that she wouldn't have any urge to report him to someone from Amodi.

At least he had managed to find a place where he could rest for a little while. He had a feeling that Amodi would start searching for him, and he would need to be more careful.

He would wait until later to find her, though. It was too early in the morning, and he needed all the rest that he could get.

…

India was a little bored. Romano was going through each of the prisoners one by one to see if they knew anything about Brazil. And India had to keep an eye on the other prisoners, and also make sure that the prisoners already through the process didn't cause too much problems.

Luckily, the nations already through the process were mostly too wasted to be causing any problems. Many of them looked as though they were prepared to pass out, so India had only to take them to their rooms.

India had to commend Romano on the wine. It was pretty powerful stuff, and quite delicious. Once a person got over the strength of the drink, they managed to appreciate the flavour.

It was one of their favourite drinks whenever they decided to drink together. The members of Amodi had developed quite a resistance to the drinks. Which meant that they could appreciate the flavour.

India stifled a yawn. Most of the nations had decided to go to bed. Something that India honestly would rather be doing. But he supposed that it was their punishment. He and Romano had been negligent, allowing Brazil to escape.

It was imperative that they find as much information about him as possible. He knew a weakness in their system, one that _they_ didn't know about. And they couldn't afford to have a weakness. Even a single weakness could lead to defeat.

Which meant that no matter how frustrating, no matter how tedious, they would do anything to ensure that they fixed the weakness. And they would ensure that they didn't have to deal with any other hiccups. That no matter what, nothing else would go wrong.

And Brazil would most definitely be punished for escaping. India didn't know Brazil's fate, but he knew that Brazil would most likely never get the chance to escape again.

…

Seborga walked into the office, carrying a tray with two mugs of coffee. Poland and Italy glanced towards him before going back to their previous task of sifting through documents. Seborga knew those documents to be Rome's notes in Latin. They were perusing all of the information that Rome had gathered about the nature of nations.

They had already gone through all of _their_ notes, in search of something that they had missed. No results. Now they were going back to the original source.

Seborga, Hutt River, Vatican and San Marino took turns bringing them coffee. While they could have lived with only needing to do it every hour, around two in the morning they started to require a mug every half hour.

The four younger nations weren't particularly happy, but they did what they could to help their leaders. The others decided to stay out of the way. Everyone could see that Italy and Poland were quite angry, and didn't want to be in the crossfire.

The ones delivering the coffee were also careful that they didn't set them off. They were stressed about the fact that one of their prisoners escaped when he shouldn't have, but the sleep deprivation was also getting to them.

Seborga placed the tray on the desk, and three hours ago he would have been startled by the speed at which they reached out to grab the mugs. But he was also too tired for this. He just grabbed the tray again and left, and after returning it to the kitchen he went back to bed.

Seborga snuggled up to Hutt River, who wrapped his arms around him without waking. Seborga sighed. He hoped for all their sakes that the matter was resolved soon.

…

"Where exactly are they?" Belarus asked Wales.

"They're supposed to be somewhere in Johannesburg," Switzerland answered instead. "If Brazil knows…"

"He'll go there," Belarus said. "We just need to find him first."

"It's going to be tricky, though," Wales said. "Johannesburg is a very populated place."

"We've seen worse," Switzerland said. "And we've got you to help us look."

"Of course. But if we run into him with a lot of people around…"

"We'll drag him out of sight," Belarus said. "Besides, we're only supposed to capture him. Not kill him."

"We're landing," Switzerland interrupted. "We'll figure out how to bring him back soon enough."

…

"You're leaving?" America asked.

Turkey nodded his head.

"It's our fault that Amodi managed to get Greece," Turkey said. "We need to get him back. Before they screw with his mind too much."

They were all at the conference table that had been temporarily transformed into the breakfast table. Some of the Middle Eastern nations nodded their heads in agreement with Turkey, while some of the other nations looked concerned.

"Do you know where to find him?" Japan asked.

"Yeah," Turkey said. "Norway told us where."

"Though I would have liked to be able to sleep a little longer," Norway mumbled.

"And how are you going to kill one of them?" Russia asked. "You can't save him without killing either Canada or Egypt."

"Luckily, Egypt was cocky," Turkey said, smirking. "He told us about all of their methods to kill a nation. Though, only the gun doesn't involve torture."

Slovenia shuddered, and Slovakia reached out to rub his arm soothingly. Turkey noticed this and winced.

"Sorry about that," Turkey said. "I guess it brings up bad memories."

"Our best bet would be to cut out and destroy the heart," Hungary said.

Slovenia whimpered, looking a little green. Hungary threw him a sympathetic look.

"How are you going to do it, though?" Czech asked. "No offence, but I don't think your frying pan would be able to do it."

"It might daze one of them long enough for us to be able to carve out the heart," Hungary said. "But Syria's been sharpening knives the whole time we've been at his house."

Everyone turned to Syria, who had a dark grin on his face.

"I've got a few of them on me right now," Syria said. "Enough for each of us going."

"And they're Damascus steel," Turkey said. "Syria's been holding out on us."

"What really matters is that _Amodi_ doesn't know about it," Jordan said, grinning. "I've seen what that steel can do. They don't stand a chance."

"Enough to carve out a heart," Oman said. "After what we saw Egypt do to Emirates, I can't say that I feel sorry for them."

"And you're also a little sore about being shot," Yemen said. "Not that I blame you."

"Yeah. Those bullets really hurt. Speaking of which, I'm not going anywhere near those things."

"Understood," Michoacán said. "America, you'll be leaving soon too, right?"

"Yeah," America said. "So Russia, where's the nearest airport?"

"It's a while away," Russia said. "I can take you there."

"Thanks."

"Turkey, how are you going to Greece's location?"

"I'm not sure yet," Turkey said. "But I think the best bet will be magic."

"Unfortunately, I think you're right," Norway said. "The base is in Canada, away from any city. The place is completely isolated. And the fact that it's in Canada's land makes it problematic. There's no way to arrive by plane, and if you try to go through America you'll be discovered soon."

"So magic really is our best option," Hungary sighed. "Will you be coming with us, Norway?"

"It's not a good idea," China said. "Norway's far too vulnerable, and Amodi seems to want him back."

"They're not happy that I managed to get away from them," Norway said. "At the very least, they'll want to torture me as punishment."

"Norway stays," Russia said. "We don't want them to gain an advantage. And we wouldn't want Norway to be captured. I think they would have a fate worse than death in mind for him."

"Can they do that?" Bahrain asked.

Norway nodded his head solemnly.

"I've been turned human," Norway said. "That's already a worse fate."

"And these guys are major sadists," Thailand said. "Even if they don't have something in mind, they'll think of something."

"And we don't even know how far they're willing to take it," Vietnam said. "The fact that they've kept who they really are hidden from us means that they're unpredictable to us now."

"Not completely," Russia said, smiling. "We have had some time to get used to their methods."

"But we still haven't seen their full extent," Ukraine said.

"We saw Belarus's."

"Explain," Afghanistan said.

"When we had captured North Korea, Belarus was one of the nations that came to rescue him. She is his lover. And she went… berserk. She was clouded by anger, and very strong."

"Strong enough to _throw RUSSIA away_ ," America said. "But France said that it was because North Korea was hurt, and Belarus became stronger to save him."

Turkey's eyes widened.

"I just remembered something," Turkey said. "Canada and Egypt are together, right?"

Norway nodded his head.

"Oh shit…" Turkey said.

Hungary's eyes were wide as well.

"If Belarus was like that when North Korea was just _injured_ …" she started.

"Then imagine how Canada or Egypt might be if the other is killed," Taiwan said.

"Then I think we should kill one, grab Greece and get out," Syria said.

America was silent for a moment.

"Liechtenstein and Molossia," America said. "They were an item, but then Molossia got killed, and… Liechtenstein called to tell me that she'll get me back for that."

"And she hasn't gone through with it?" Czech asked.

"No. But, not too long after that, there was a nuclear meltdown in New York – the state, not the city. And I felt something else with New York, but I'm not sure what it was. I can't feel anything else."

"America," Japan said, "is it possible that they…"

America's eyes widened.

"That they killed New York?" he whispered. His face twisted in rage. "Damn that bitch!"

"Perhaps," Russia said, "when you go for our fallen comrades, you may want to find your states too?"

"Oh yeah," America said. "And if I run into them, they'll see what happens when you mess with the hero."

"Excluding the hero bit," Uzbekistan said, "I think America is right."

"Just don't be reckless," China said.

"Don't worry," America said. "I've got some experience with revenge."

Several of the nations shuddered. Many of them could see that there was a dark glint in America's eyes, but they didn't comment on it.

It might be what would end up giving them an edge.

"So, Norway's not going with me," Turkey said. "But I still need some magical help."

"I can go," Faroe said. "I'll need some help from either Norway or Greenland, though."

"I'll take you there," Norway said. "But you'll need to help them get back."

"And I can give Faroe some of my magic to give him an extra boost," Greenland said.

"Isn't there a way to increase your own magic?" Russia asked. "I'm just asking because it would be bothersome if you have to rely on each other the whole time."

"No, we understand," Norway said. "I'm still recovering from being separated from my land. In the beginning I couldn't feel my magic at all, but it's slowly coming back. It's just hard without having access to my land for extra power."

"And we can't access too much of our land power," Greenland said. "Denmark is Amodi's territory now, and since we were still his territories…"

"Technically, we're Amodi territories as well," Åland said. "But they've made no move to get us under their control."

"But using too much magic could prove problematic," Faroe said.

"And we can't use ours because Wales is a member of Amodi," Isle of Man said. "Not only would it be dangerous, but he's currently the only member of the UK still alive, and he can completely cut off our links to magic."

"It seems like your biggest issue is that you use your lands as your source of power," Japan said. "What if you manage to find another source?"

"It's possible," Norway said. "The best would be a gem of some type. Preferably a large one."

"You said that Brazil is on his way to save South Africa?" Netherlands asked.

"Ja, why?"

"I think we could ask the two of them to help us out. Diamonds will be alright, ja?"

"It would be perfect."

"I might be able to find a few as well," Russia said. "But Netherlands has a point. Brazil and South Africa will be able to provide the best diamonds that we'd need."

"We should probably send someone to help out there," China said.

"Could I _please_ go?" Taiwan asked. "I know South Africa fairly well."

"I'll go with her to keep an eye on her," Vietnam said.

China sighed.

"I would have preferred to go, but I'm not in the best condition," China said.

"I can go too," Ukraine said.

"Very well," Russia said. "Just be careful, da?"

"Don't worry," Ukraine said, smiling. "We will be."

…

Brazil thought of the possible locations where South Africa could be, before he shook his head. He knew that she would most likely be at her private residence. It was where _he_ would have been, after all. After he had been conquered and before he was taken to their base of operations, he had chosen to remain in his house.

Figuring that that was most likely where she would be, he went to ask the owner of the guesthouse for directions.

…

"You know, maybe it's a good thing that not a lot of people are coming with us," America said.

True to his word, Russia was driving them to the nearest airport. America was in the passenger seat, while Pakistan, Jordan and Thailand were in the back. Cyprus had originally said that he would accompany America, but after deciding to go with Turkey to save Greece he had to decline, and Thailand volunteered himself as a substitute.

"Da," Russia said. "My car wouldn't have been big enough. Now, are you sure you'll be able to handle it from here on?"

"Sure," America said. "I might not be able to get in touch with my own pilots, but there should be someone willing at your airport."

"Da. I can help arrange for a plane. They will be more than willing to help."

"Let's hope you're right."

…

"Should we go on?" Philippines asked.

"It would probably help," South said. "Should we attack China again? Or perhaps Japan?"

"Maybe we should go for someone that we can completely wipe out," North suggested.

"Like what I did with Malaysia?" Philippines asked.

"That would be a good start."

"Great," South said. "I'll go suggest it to Italy and Poland. Wish me luck."

South made his way to the office, where he heard angry mutterings. He hesitated, before he knocked on the door. The mutterings stopped, and South opened the door. He almost flinched when he saw the two angry pairs of eyes glaring at him, but he stayed strong.

"The three of us were wondering if we could start a massacre," South said. "Maybe Sri Lanka or Maldives?"

"A massacre sounds nice," Poland said. "Have fun."

South hesitated for a moment before he fled. He passed Vatican on his way back, who looked at him with a bemused expression. South plopped himself down as soon as he arrived back with the other two Asians.

"How'd it go?" Philippines asked.

"Poland told us to have fun," South said.

"I take it that they're pissed off enough that they're telling us to kill as many people as possible to make themselves feel better?" North asked.

South nodded his head.

"Then let's go," North said. "Before they decide to take it out on _us_."

…

Antarctica cackled madly. General Winter had fled the battle.

"So typical of a general," Antarctica said. "In spite of all your medals, you're actually pretty useless on the battlefield."

He set off again, following his instincts that were telling him where a large collection of nations could be found.

 **The largest carbonado and rough diamond, the Sergio, was found in Brazil, while the largest gem-quality rough diamond, the Cullinan, was found in South Africa. If you check on Wikipedia's list for diamonds you'll find Brazil and South Africa's names often, especially if you arrange it from largest to smallest (uncut). South Africa especially has a reputation of finding large diamonds.**

 **My own knowledge of gemstones is a little rusty (it's been a few years since I checked spiritual guidebooks), but gemstones are believed to bring out a certain quality. Diamonds are supposed to bring out purpose and clarity, which would be useful as a source of magic. And because diamond was the first gem I could think of. But I've seen in media how gems are often used as a power source for magic, and it makes sense, as long as you have a compatible gem.**

 **During the Apartheid era, a lot of nations decided to boycott South Africa (trading, sports, etc.). One of the nations that** _ **didn't**_ **was Taiwan, and the two nations had good relations due to their shared hatred of communism. The relationship soured towards the end of Apartheid when the South African government chose to build stronger relations with China, leaving Taiwan in the dust. In this story, it's basically when the favouritism went from White South Africa to Black South Africa, and Black has a better relationship with communist states. An example could be seen in the Border War which corresponded with the Angolan Civil War. Cuba got involved as well, and while the NP (White) saw them as enemies, the ANC (Black) considered them to be friends.**

 **On Jeff Dunham's** _ **On the Map**_ **DVD there's a segment where he's in South Africa, and one of the jokes was taking a six-hour bus ride and seeing only one block, and that they say Johannesburg is best-known for its cultural diversity, but it's actually the traffic. And then you come to Pretoria, which is much worse.**

 **Speaking of Jeff Dunham, I actually thought of writing a oneshot about the nations watching the** _ **On the Map**_ **DVD and reacting to it. What do you guys think?**


	76. Chapter 75

**Thanks to , Kattie, Elsa, Terra, Pink Tourmaline, StuffyJinx, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, teabrows and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 75**

Norway had managed to get a map, which he had opened in front of him. Faroe was standing next to him, and across from him stood Turkey's group.

"The base is here," Norway said, pointing to the map. "I'll send you a little south."

"So we just need to travel north?" Turkey asked.

"Exactly."

"Anyone have a compass?" Lebanon asked.

"Here," Faroe said, reaching under his jacket and removing a compass he kept around his neck. "I always have this with me."

"And we've managed to get a few coats," Cyprus said. "Why _does_ Russia have all of them, anyway?"

"He was originally planning for this base to be where the entire Soviet Union and then some could stay," Norway said. "He kept this place well-stocked with a lot of things. This was in case he and America went through with their threats and nuked each other."

The others were silent for a few moments.

"I hate the Cold War," Turkey muttered.

"I just remembered how creepy both of them used to be," Cyprus said.

"Best not to bring it up," Lebanon said.

"Agreed," Syria said.

"I think you should go," Norway said. "It's still dark over there, which should give you the element of surprise."

"Let's hope that it would be enough," Turkey muttered.

…

Canada was the first to awaken, and he took a moment to stare at Egypt lying beside him. He smiled softly, thinking about his mask. He was only supposed to be quiet and polite. He had never expected to become practically invisible.

He might have grown out of most of his hostility, being surrounded by things that he had to admit were good. But America took it all away from him. He might have been a wild child at heart, but he craved affection too, which was denied because of America.

He had originally joined Amodi because they offered for him to one day let his true self out. But after his colonial days, he had gained more and more reasons to hate the rest of the world, and became an unconditionally loyal member of Amodi.

But he comforted himself with the fact that he had something that America didn't: love. He loved Egypt with all his heart, and he knew that Egypt loved him back. It was something that America could never have.

America still lived with the rules of nations, which meant that he would ultimately betray any potential lovers. But Amodi didn't do that. Even if they had 'betrayed' each other, it was part of a plan. They needed to keep up the farce of being like all the other nations, and they needed to deflect too much attention.

The Koreas had managed it well for the last few decades, but Canada knew how much it destroyed them to act as though they despised each other. North especially, who had always been the more protective brother, and the more subdued one. Belarus would often sneak away to offer him comfort and reassurance, and South would go to Switzerland. That was how each pair managed to fall in love.

Canada and Egypt had a lot more time together, with Egypt falling under England's influence (planned, of course). What really got them together was the Suez Crisis. They would use the time wisely when they were supposed to have diplomatic visits.

Canada placed a quick kiss on Egypt's forehead before he stood up. He would need to go check on Greece. He also couldn't help but feel that something was coming. But whatever it was, they'd be ready for it.

Just as he was thinking that he tensed. He could sense six other nations in his land. He frowned, thinking that their enemy must have used magic to get there. He turned back to Egypt lying peacefully on the bed.

As much as he hated to, he would have to wake Egypt. They had work to do.

…

"Is there anything you would like to do today?" Israel asked.

White looked up from her breakfast, a little surprised by the sudden question, before shaking her head.

"Not in particular," she said. "Why do you ask?"

"It might be a good idea to get out of the house," he said.

The truth was that he wanted to get her away from places where Brazil would most likely show up. If Brazil had any idea where to find them, then the first place he would look was her house. If she wasn't at the house…

"Not today," White sighed. "I just want to relax for a few days, and then I want to look up my neighbours. See if they're still alright, you know?"

Israel nodded his head.

"It must be nice to have a good relationship with your neighbours," he commented.

"We have our moments," she said, smiling. "Not as bad as you, though."

Israel nodded his head, before he stood.

"Excuse me," he said.

He walked back to the guest room that she had given to him, before taking out his cell phone. He noticed that he had a message, and so quickly opened it.

 _We're on our way._

He sighed, nodding his head. At least his allies would be able to help. And if Brazil managed to slip past… Well, he'd be ready.

…

"Damn it's cold," Turkey said.

Lebanon, Cyprus and Syria looked as though they were agreeing with Turkey, in spite of the thick winter coats they wore. Hungary wasn't too bothered, and neither was Faroe.

Faroe had his compass out, and he observed it for a while before looking up.

"Norway said to go north," Faroe said. "This way."

They started walking in the direction in which Faroe pointed, the Middle Eastern nations not too happy about the cold.

"Don't worry," Hungary said, smiling reassuringly. "It'll get warmer once the sun rises."

"H-h-how a-are y-you n-not b-bothered?" Syria demanded, shivering.

"I used to be a member of the Soviet Union, remember? We all had to live in Russia's house. And it would often be in a shabby condition. And Austria…"

Her expression grew pained, and the others watched her anxiously.

"Austria was an alpine nation," she said. "It could sometimes get really cold there as well."

"And my country's not exactly known for being hot," Faroe said. "I'm used to the cold."

"L-lucky y-you," Lebanon stuttered.

"Don't worry about it," Hungary said. "I think their base will be heated. Egypt should be in the same boat as you, after all."

"Let's h-hope you're r-right," Turkey said.

…

Egypt changed Greece's soundtrack. It would seem that they needed to work faster.

Though he didn't know what they hoped to achieve. They should know that trying to recapture any captured territories would kill the nation. Unless they were bargaining on Greece _not_ being completely integrated (which was actually the case).

But there was another possibility. They had all heard about it, and they were all ordered to keep a close eye on their prisoners. Somehow, Brazil had managed to escape, and if their enemies knew the method, then they could theoretically reclaim every last prisoner.

They would have to interrogate the enemies that were approaching.

And on that note, how did they even know _where_ to find them? Canada said that they were pretty close. It couldn't be that they already _knew_ where to find them, could it?

But if they did… _how_? Norway couldn't know _that_ much. Could he?

Egypt tightened his fist. They would allow Greece to go, though they would still put up a fight to make it less suspicious. And afterwards, they would need to do everything in their power to make sure that they got Norway back.

They would fix all of their mistakes.

…

Norway shuddered. He had a strange feeling of foreboding.

Ukraine, Vietnam and Taiwan all stared at him. He shook his head. He needed to focus on the issue at hand.

"Are you ready to go?" Norway asked.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Vietnam said.

"I won't be coming with you. Will you be alright without magical aid?"

"We can join them," Ukraine said. "It will take a while, but we'll find our way back."

"Alright," Norway said, handing a folded piece of paper to Taiwan. "There's the address. I hope everything goes well."

"We hope so too," Vietnam said.

Norway closed his eyes, focusing his magic on the location they needed to travel to. The three women held each other's hands, and when he opened his eyes again they were gone. He felt drained, but satisfied that he could do something to help them.

He yawned, before standing up. He could use a nap. And England would most likely come to give him more useful information. Or Denmark could decide to bother him.

Seeing his dead friends… It made him more determined to help in any way he could. They already had to deal with so many nations having passed away. They needed to stop more unnecessary deaths.

He wondered what would happen to the countries of the deceased nations if they managed to win the war. There would no longer be a personification. Would there be new nations?

Regardless, things would never be the same again.

…

Brazil had managed to get a crudely drawn map from the guesthouse, and he knew that he would never be able to repay the woman for everything that she had done. So perhaps, what he _could_ do was to save the woman's home. Or rather, the nation that she called home.

He had yet another reason to save the woman he loved.

He heard something move in the backseat, and while he was waiting for the light to turn green he turned around. His eyes widened when he saw a honey badger, but the creature had another quality that they didn't normally have. It was the same quality that all nations' pets possessed.

"Rascal?" he asked.

The creature climbed onto the passenger seat, and Brazil smiled. He didn't know how it got there, but he was grateful for its company.

"Let's go save your mistress," Brazil said.

…

Antarctica observed the landscape keenly. He avoided the cities, knowing that the enemies wouldn't be hiding there. And he didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention to himself.

Being a continent, he could sense the presence of nations, even if they weren't his own. And he relied on that sense to take him to his enemies.

He wondered if General Winter would warn them about his arrival, before smirking. Even if he _did_ , there would be nothing they could do. There was nowhere they could run. Nowhere to hide. And he would enjoy the looks on their faces when they realised it.

…

"It's a lot warmer here," Ukraine said.

"Of course it is," Vietnam said. "Though the humans don't seem to agree."

A lot of the surrounding humans were wearing jackets and long-sleeved shirts. Taiwan snickered.

"We just came from Russia," she said. "They need to learn a thing or two."

"We need to find that address," Vietnam said.

"Right," Taiwan said, before she went to ask someone for directions.

"I don't know how she can just do that," Vietnam muttered to Ukraine.

"She's very social," Ukraine said, smiling. "It's easier for her to approach strangers."

Taiwan returned, a smile on her face.

"He said that we're not that far away," she said. "About a fifteen-minute walk."

"That's not far at all," Ukraine said.

"And I get the feeling that walking will be our best bet," Vietnam said, looking at the traffic. "Lead the way, Taiwan."

The younger nation nodded, and they started making their way, following the directions provided to them.

…

"So, _this_ is her house," Belarus said. "It's not bad."

"We need to make sure that Brazil doesn't slip past us," Wales said.

"Right," Switzerland said. "Let's split up. This is a corner house, which means that there is a bigger gap."

"I'll take the corner," Belarus said. "You two can stay at the edge of the neighbours' yards."

"Got it," Switzerland said. "There's no way that Brazil would be able to come this way."

…

"Thanks a lot, dude," America said. "Sorry for all those harsh jokes through the years."

Russia blinked in confusion, before he smiled.

"It's no problem," he said. "I said a few nasty comments about you too."

"I hate to interrupt," Pakistan said. "But now is not the time."

"Da, you're right," Russia said. "So then, good luck with your mission, Amerika. Try not to get yourself killed."

"Sure," America said. "Take care of the others."

Russia nodded, and just as they were about to part ways, General Winter arrived. Everyone except Russia jumped in surprise, while Russia only blinked.

"Ah, General," Russia said. "Funny seeing you here."

"There's nothing funny, Russia," the General said. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" America asked seriously.

"There is a member of Amodi in your lands," the General said, eyes trained on Russia.

"But… I can't feel anyone," Russia said, frowning worriedly. "I know it's not technically winter yet, but couldn't you do something?"

"I tried. This person… he's stronger than me. He can handle the cold far better than any nation I've seen. And he has more endurance. He's also far stronger than any nation I've encountered."

"Do you have his name?" Russia asked.

"Da. Antarctica."

The nations' eyes widened and they visibly paled at that bit of information.

"But… _Is_ there someone for Antarctica?" Thailand asked.

"If there is," Jordan said, "then Amodi's gotten to him first."

"But… How much do you think he can do?" Pakistan asked.

"He kicked General Winter's butt," America said. "I think he can do a lot."

The General looked annoyed, but didn't comment. Russia frowned.

"Where is he now?" he demanded.

"He's on his way to the base," the General said. "I'm sorry I could not stop him."

"Dude, we need to go back!" America exclaimed.

"Nyet," Russia said. "You four go. Reclaim our fallen comrades. Find your states. If all of us are here, and things turn out badly, then Amodi wins. If things go badly… at least you'd be able to fight on."

America looked conflicted, but Jordan grabbed his arm.

"He's right," she said. "We need to go."

America glanced towards her before he fixed his gaze on Russia. There was an increasingly familiar dark glint in his eyes.

"Don't let any of them die," America said.

"I will try my best," Russia said. "But we don't know what Antarctica is capable of."

"Dammit. Where did they even get him? I mean, how could we _not_ have known about him?"

"I don't know. But the point is, he's here, and he's working for them. And I will do my very best to stop him."

"Let's hope your best is enough," Thailand said. "Take care of China."

"And Afghanistan," Pakistan said. "And on that note, good luck."

"I will need it," Russia said, smiling faintly.

…

Brazil smiled slightly when he saw White's house, but the smile fell when he saw Switzerland nearby. Rascal growled, and Brazil looked out for any more members of Amodi. His stomach fell when he saw Belarus, and around the corner he saw Wales. While he wasn't absolutely sure about the Welshman, the fact that he was there probably meant that he was part of the enemy.

They made it impossible to get close.

Brazil glanced towards the honey badger, a smile growing again.

"Tell me, amigo," Brazil said, "would you like to do me a favour?"

…

"P-please t-tell m-me w-we're a-almost there," Syria stammered.

"Wow," Faroe said. "You guys _really_ can't handle the cold."

"Shut up!"

"I think I see something," Hungary said, interrupting the growing fight.

"F-finally," Cyprus said.

"R-remember the p-plan," Turkey said. "F-find Greece, k-kill C-Canada or E-Egypt."

"And get the hell out," Hungary said.

…

Wales heard a growl, and he turned around to see a honey badger. His eyes widened. Oh, he was familiar with these creatures. And he knew that he was in big trouble.

The creature lunged forward, and Wales backed up as much as possible. He looked around frantically, but had to back up a little more when the creature lunged again.

"Belarus!" Wales shouted.

The creature lunged again, and to Wales's dismay he tripped on the sidewalk, falling down and allowing the creature a better reach.

Wales frantically tried to kick it away, and he heard Belarus running up to him.

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"A little _help_ would be appreciated," Wales said, and he yelped when he realised _where_ the creature was trying to bite.

Belarus growled, before she took out a gun. The creature noticed and turned to the side, allowing the bullet to be deflected by its thick hide. Unfortunately, it ricocheted in Wales's leg, forcing the European to groan in pain.

And just as suddenly as it came, the honey badger decided to run away. Belarus took aim again, but Wales stopped her.

"Don't," he said. "You'll just attract unwanted attention. And the thing's practically bulletproof."

Belarus growled, before she helped him up. They heard running footsteps and turned to see Switzerland, looking worried.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He was attacked by something," Belarus said.

"Honey badger," Wales said. "Nasty devils. But… What's it doing here?"

"I think South Africa has one," Switzerland said. "It must have been her pet."

The three were silent.

"She can do without that pet," Belarus said. "Come on. We need to get back to our posts."

None of them had noticed as someone used the opportunity to sneak over the fence.

…

Antarctica came to a stop. He saw what appeared to be a shack not far from him, yet he could feel a large amount of nations, some almost literally below his feet.

He smirked. He had been introduced to quite a few Amodi bases, and some of the bases on his own land were mostly underground.

It was time to see how nations fared against a continent.

 **Focus on the two main rescues, as well as Antarctica's impending attack. To be continued next time.**

 **South Africans do** _ **not**_ **like cold, and when it starts getting below 20 degrees the jackets come out. Some even before that. I'm one of the South Africans that have a high tolerance for cold, in other words if the temperature's in the single digits I'm alright, though I can only reference two occasions; the first was when a friend of mine observed that it was 2 degrees and I was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and another time when it was -9 and I was wearing a simple long-sleeved shirt because it was starting to get cold. It's** _ **really**_ **amusing when people wearing layers ask you if you're feeling cold when only wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and they always shiver when you tell them 'no', as though they feel cold on your behalf (that's actually what some would say). So, I can also imagine how the Middle Eastern nations would react to being in Canada.**

 **I've only vaguely referenced it before, but I imagine the seasons being spring/autumn. The idea is that winter nations and summer nations don't have that particular element, with it being warmer/colder than it usually would be. Some nations are known for the harsh summers, others the harsh winters. This way, it's neutral. It's also why General Winter was at a disadvantage in his fight with Antarctica: it's not winter.**

 **And the honey badger returns. Their thick skin can actually deflect low-calibre bullets, and even a** _ **machete**_ **. Their skulls are fairly vulnerable, though. One of the videos from when I originally researched them mentioned that when bitten by a puffadder (one of the most dangerous snakes in South Africa), it will pass out for a few hours and wake up as though nothing happened. Also, a lot of comments mentioned that it's basically the southern version of the wolverine. And when faced with larger prey, it** _ **will**_ **go for the most sensitive spot… particularly for males. It will also attack humans there.**


	77. Chapter 76

**Thanks to shoujochan, Shattering Colors, ToEsz, Terra, Kattie, Elsa, StuffyJinx, Eternal Nexus Warrior, pastaaddict, , ScandinavianTrash, AwesomeTomatoPizza and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 76**

Brazil stayed low. He managed to get over the fence, but he knew that there was a chance that they could still spot him. And if they managed to see him, then it would all be over.

He didn't want to go back to being a prisoner of Amodi. While they weren't particularly cruel towards their prisoners – actually they were a lot nicer than most conquerors were – the sense of freedom was lost. The knowledge of what they had done and could do to other nations hung over them like a cloud, and there was the possibility that their minds could change in a moment's notice.

Brazil was a nation. Younger than many, but he had seen war. He had been in the middle of a few, and he had been on the side lines. He had seen the drastic methods that nations would resort to, and he had resorted to a few as well. And nations as strong as Amodi…

In his prison, he had been kept as an implied threat, along with the other former Portuguese colonies. They had actually made it clear that they were willing to hurt one of the old colonies if Portugal had crossed some sort of line. And what that line might be has never been made clear.

And he knew that he had crossed a line. That Amodi would definitely punish him for escaping. Or they could go for a revenge by proxy. They might punish the others for him escaping. Not Portugal, though. Portugal was the important prisoner. The rest of them, on the other hand, were vulnerable targets. Amodi wouldn't have a problem with hurting them, or…

Or they might be killed.

As long as they didn't know how to reach him, then they might not try to attack the others. They liked to make a spectacle out of things. And without the knowledge that the message would be sent, they wouldn't meaninglessly hurt one of their prisoners.

Not if they were still useful.

He assumed that South Africa was still useful to them, otherwise she wouldn't still be alive. Unless they were keeping her alive for Israel's sake, who supposedly loved her. And Israel must have been _very_ useful to them, otherwise they wouldn't have recruited him. They would have just captured or killed him.

All that Brazil knew was that Israel was a recent acquisition to Amodi's ranks. He wouldn't be as bad as Romano or India. But there was a reason why Amodi wanted him to join them. And it was for that reason why he would need to be careful of him.

Brazil glanced around, making sure that none of the Amodi members were looking into the yard before darting to the house. Once he got close enough he stopped again, keeping low. He needed to find a good window to climb through. Not an easy task, since most of them were barred. There was _one_ window on the second storey that he could climb to. He just hoped that Israel wasn't in that particular room.

…

"Okay, so I take it that that's it," Hungary said. "Question is, though: how do we get in?"

The others all looked around. The base looked like a regular house, though isolated. It was a rather large house, though it lacked a fence or garden. It was as though the building itself had just been placed there.

"Well, we can't just go in through the front door," Turkey said.

As Hungary had said, the more the sun rose, the warmer it became. They also had time to adjust to the cold, and the walk had done its job of warming them up as well.

"What about the windows?" Syria asked.

"If we can see an open window, great," Lebanon said. "Otherwise…"

"Breaking a window would just attract too much attention," Cyprus said.

"It might be a good idea to scout the area first," Turkey said. "Just be quiet."

They nodded, before scattering. Faroe stayed in the same spot, while Turkey, Cyprus and Hungary went to the house's right side and Syria and Lebanon went to the left.

Lebanon stopped, however, when she saw that there was a large stretch of wall that didn't have a window at all. And when she went to the next window, she saw the wall right next to it, on the side where a window was lacking.

"I think I might know where they're keeping Greece," Lebanon said.

"Are you sure?" Syria asked.

She nodded her head, pointing to the wall lacking a window.

"At least we'll know which way to go," he said. "But we'll need to get in first."

"Guys!" Turkey's whispered shout called them.

They turned to glance at each other before heading towards their sort-of leader. Hungary and Cyprus joined soon after. Turkey was staring at a certain point, and they saw that it was a backdoor. And that there was what appeared to be a rather large doggy-door.

"You think it's open?" Cyprus asked.

"I don't think the door itself," Turkey said. "But the doggy-door might be."

"Let's get Faroe," Lebanon said. "He's the only one that would be small enough to fit."

"And the only one that wouldn't mind as much if he were to lose his protective layer," Syria muttered.

…

"They're outside," Canada said.

Egypt nodded his head.

"I'm still curious about how they managed to find their way here," Egypt said.

"Me too," Canada said. "Oh well. We'll need to get into position soon. Remember, we _need_ to find out how they plan to free Greece."

"I'll pay close attention."

Canada smiled, before he placed a quick kiss on Egypt's nose. The smaller nation smiled, before he pulled Canada into a hug.

"They've gotten pretty dangerous lately," Canada said. "Be careful."

"You too," Egypt said.

…

"How much farther?" Ukraine panted.

"Why are you asking me?" Vietnam asked.

"Should I ask for directions again?" Taiwan asked.

"Might be a good idea. We need to make sure that we're still on the right track."

…

Antarctica had made his way inside the shack and was looking around. The shack couldn't be called decorated, except for a rug. The continent gave a lazy smile as he pulled the rug aside, revealing a trapdoor.

"Too easy," he said.

…

Russia was driving faster than what might have been considered safe, but he didn't care. He needed to get to the base as soon as possible, before Antarctica found his way there.

He had sent General Winter ahead to warn the others, and he hoped that they still had a decent amount of time. They had no idea what Antarctica was capable of, but if he was a part of Amodi, then he was bad news. The fact that he had defeated General Winter in battle was enough to tell him that he was dangerous.

…

China was watching Japan as the younger nation went to work on the schematics, making sure that Russia had done a proper job before they took the schematics to Japan's people, where the humans could build it and send it to orbit.

China was impressed. Russia had added a design for a receiver, which would be added to the nations that weren't part of Amodi. This receiver would also send a message to each nation's cell phone, and the signal would be changed every few hours, and a nation would need to type their personal password whenever they received a notification that the signal had changed. This was in the event that one of the nations was captured or killed by Amodi, so that Amodi wouldn't gain access to the satellites. And each nation would also receive a signal that was different from the other. Again, it was to keep Amodi out of their network.

It was expected of Japan to think of something like this, but Russia was a bit surprising. It was very sophisticated, and China could see that Japan corrected very few errors. It was the type of thinking that one would expect of Russia during the Cold War, _not_ modern times.

It was a little scary, to be honest.

China was no fool. He had been around long enough to see the subtle changes when a nation was slipping into another persona in preparation for a war. A persona that would do anything to win the war.

What made it worse this time was that their governments and people weren't involved. The people's wills, their desires and prejudices affected a nation's mind. Especially if some sort of propaganda was involved – Germany wasn't the only one guilty of that. So when a nation slipped into their war persona right now, then the nation was the one slowly slipping into insanity.

Then again, it couldn't be called 'slow'. This war… it went by a lot faster than the wars before it. Especially for one of this scale. No matter their preparations, they weren't prepared for the right things.

But they were adapting.

The two Asians were startled by the sudden arrival of General Winter. The two sighed simultaneously.

"Could you perhaps not do that?" Japan asked.

"So rude," China said.

"Well, _sorry_ ," the General said sarcastically. "I just thought you'd like to know about the danger you're in."

"What danger?" Japan asked.

"Amodi has sent one of their agents. Someone who's not affected by the winter, despite my best efforts."

"Where is he now?" China asked.

The General paused.

"He just entered through the trapdoor."

…

White was in her bedroom, rifling through her weapon stash. She kept a bunch of firearms under her bed, and she wanted to check if everything was there. She always checked to make sure that all of her things were where she left them whenever she had been gone from one of her houses for some time.

She was also a little worried about Israel. He had been acting a little odd recently. It made her feel uneasy.

She knew that she was probably just paranoid, but she wanted to know that she would be safe. Even if the person that she had to protect herself from was her friend.

There was just _something_ not right about the entire situation, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She jumped when she heard something tapping on her window. It was the only one that hadn't been built with bars, mainly because she didn't like to feel trapped. Even Black scoffed at her, since normally, having bars was a _good_ thing.

She made sure that the glass was bulletproof, so that accounted for most of the security.

She heard the tapping again, and she was sure that it sounded as though someone was knocking on the window. The fact that it was on the second storey with nothing to climb with sent warning bells off in her mind. The nearest drain was too far away, and the only conceivable thing she could think of was that someone was somehow gripping the bricks.

But there was definitely someone outside.

She frowned, grabbing one of the pistols before she approached the window. Someone was leaning against the windowsill, and her eyes widened when she realised who it was. She quickly opened the window, being careful not to send him tumbling down.

"Brazil!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled weakly. She could see that he was gripping onto the bricks, his knuckles white.

"Could I please come in?" he asked.

She quickly put the pistol down before helping him in. She could feel him trembling slightly, and wondered how long he had been out there.

"You could have just knocked," she said.

"No, I can't," he said. "I managed to get away from Amodi."

"What?"

"There's a… loophole, in their no-escape clause. If one of them dies, then a nation can escape."

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say, your storms are friendly."

She was confused, cocking her head to the side.

"Listen, Anika," he said. "Whatever you do, don't trust Israel. He's part of Amodi."

Her eyes widened.

"What?" she whispered.

The two of them jumped when there was a knock on the door.

"Is everything alright?" Israel asked.

"Ja," White said. "I'm just doing an inventory check."

"Would you like my help?"

"Nee, it's no problem. Besides, you wouldn't know what to look for."

White and Brazil were quiet for a while. When they heard nothing, White turned to Brazil again.

"How do you know that Israel's a part of Amodi?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Because India and Romano rubbed my face in it," Brazil said.

"But his name wasn't on the contract."

"I guess he must have been a recent addition. But he's definitely part of Amodi. Trust me on this."

She pursed her lips.

"How can I be sure?" she asked.

"Has Israel been acting strangely lately?" he asked.

She paused. There had been _some_ instances, but…

The two of them jumped when the door opened, and they whipped to face Israel as he entered. His eyes were fixed on Brazil, and there was a look of pure hatred in his otherwise blank face. And that was when White knew for a _fact_ that Brazil was telling the truth.

…

After fetching Faroe, he had removed the coat (not as thick as theirs, but not exactly thin) and crawled through the doggy-door. The others waited patiently until the door swung open, revealing Faroe panting slightly.

"Why did _I_ have to crawl through again?" he asked.

"Because you're the smallest," Hungary said simply.

Faroe huffed, before he took his coat again. The others entered, looking around carefully. They had arrived in the kitchen, and they were surprised for a moment by how… _normal_ it looked.

"Stay quiet," Turkey muttered. "Let's find Greece first, and then we can focus on finding Egypt and Canada."

" _Or_ ," Hungary said. "I don't think we can handle both of them."

"Right. Egypt _or_ Canada."

"You said you think you know where Greece is?" Syria asked, looking at Lebanon.

She nodded her head, before leading the way, trying to remember the layout. The others followed, keeping their eyes out for the two Amodi nations that they knew were there. The fact that this house – or base or whatever – only had one storey meant that there were less places where they could be, meaning that the chances of running into them were a lot higher.

They didn't have to worry _too_ much about whether or not they were going in the right direction. They found a glass wall, and on the other side they could clearly see Greece, tied up with a blindfold.

"It doesn't look like they tortured him," Lebanon said.

"Looks can be deceiving," Syria said. "I mean, look at how the war started."

"Indeed."

Lebanon, Faroe and Cyprus yelped at the cold voice that spoke behind them, and they whipped around to see Canada and Egypt standing there, looking at them blankly. The six invaders assumed a battle stance, and as one the two Amodi nations smirked.

"You know, it's rude to just barge into someone's home," Canada said casually. "You should have called first."

"Shut up!" Turkey snapped. "We know that you've been brainwashing Greece. What have you been filling his head with?"

Egypt pursed his lips together.

"Did you perhaps learn all that from Norway?" Egypt asked. "How does he have all his information, I wonder."

"You made the mistake of killing so many nations," Cyprus said. "They're all after your blood now."

"So, your fountain of knowledge gets his sources from ghosts," Canada said. "How annoying."

"Something needs to be done about that," Egypt said.

"Over our dead bodies," Turkey growled.

"You know that can be arranged, right?"

"Faroe, Lebanon, go get Greece. We'll keep these two busy."

The two nodded, before they went through the door. Syria narrowed his eyes.

"It's unlocked?" he asked.

"Of course," Canada said. "It's not like Greece could get out on his own. Not that he would want to, anymore."

"But what _I'm_ curious about is what you hope to achieve," Egypt said. "Nations under our rule that try to escape will immediately die. Prevents the collapse of our internal structure, you know? And protects us from traitors."

"You think you know everything," Turkey said, smirking. "But we know something that you don't."

"We'll see about that."

…

Japan was hurrying to the entrance, his sword in hand. He informed everyone he passed to get a weapon as well. They were under attack.

He came to a stop, however, when he saw the stranger standing casually near the entrance. This person was taller than Russia, and completely unfamiliar to him.

"It's about time," the stranger said. "I was wondering how long it would take someone to come and greet me. Japan, was it?"

"Who are you?" Japan demanded.

"I guess you must think me rude, since I know your name but you don't know mine. Very well then. I am Antarctica, last personification of the continents."

"W-what?" Japan asked, eyes wide.

"All that territorial disputes among nations… The continents were frequently torn apart by them. And the more nations that arose, claiming more land… Eventually they all just _disappeared_. Except for me. While there are nations that have claimed some of my territories, none of them are native to my land. There is no personification for those individual territories."

While he had been speaking, some of the other nations had arrived, standing behind Japan. Antarctica smirked.

"There is one thing about continents that you should probably know," he said. "We don't need weapons to kill a nation."

…

"We're almost there," Vietnam sighed in relief.

Ukraine froze, and the two Asians turned to regard her.

"Is something wrong?" Vietnam asked.

"Switzerland," Ukraine said.

The two turned to look, and indeed they saw Switzerland standing there, as though he was standing guard. Or waiting for them.

Either way, his eyes were trained on them, hatred burning in them.

 **I had hoped to resolve the rescues this chapter. Oh well. Next chapter.**

 **The reason why Brazil could climb the wall was because he used to go rock climbing with some of the other South Americans. Peru especially (before the masks were dropped). So he already has that bit of experience.**

 **The other day I ran into my old history lecturer, and we had a long conversation about Hetalia. My friend, who is his assistant, showed him a few years ago, but I never got to learn his thoughts on it. Well, he enjoyed it, and mentioned how some of the things are so subtle that only a history buff would be able to understand it. Then again, I think Hetalia's turned** _ **all**_ **of us into history buffs, especially for research purposes regarding fanfiction. In fact, it's thanks to Hetalia that I ended up being the only one in class that knew the three Axis nations (my friend was absent that day). And I think, after my friend initially showed him, he understood why the two of us would often giggle in class. The class about the Renaissance, for example, and we can't get that Chibitalia quote out of our heads.**

 **And for those reading my other stories, they** _ **are**_ **updated. But Fanfiction's been having trouble with their update notifications (or even acknowledging that they're updated). HCSS showed up on the archive, but Enough didn't. But both are updated.**


	78. Chapter 77

**Thanks to Terra, Elsa, Shattering Colors, Kattie, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Nima, pastaaddict, Pink Tourmaline and ScandinavianTrash for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 77**

The moment when Faroe and Lebanon entered the room they froze. It was as though they were struck in the head by Hungary's frying pan. After a moment the two shook their heads, before heading towards Greece.

Lebanon removed the blindfold, and Greece scrunched his eyes shut. Lebanon placed her hand on his cheek.

"It's okay," she said. "We've come to rescue you."

Faroe shook his head, feeling dizzy. He clamped his ears shut and sighed in relief.

"Untie Greece," Faroe said. "I'm going to try to turn off the music."

"Is that really necessary?" Lebanon asked. "It's so soothing."

"It's giving me a headache."

She shrugged, before she started to untie Greece. Faroe looked around, searching for whatever was being used to play the music.

Lebanon let out a yelp of pain while Greece grunted, and Faroe whipped his head towards them.

"What just happened?" Faroe demanded.

"We were shocked," Lebanon explained. "I think there's more than just the music you need to turn off."

Faroe nodded his head, before he started to get to work again.

…

Japan was the first to attack, lunging at Antarctica with his sword. The continent narrowed his eyes slightly, before he grabbed the blade with his bare hand.

And all the nations watched in horror as he simply broke the blade.

"That was foolish," Antarctica said. "But I suppose it's my turn now."

He grabbed hold of Japan's wrist, and the Japanese struggled in his grip for a moment before slumping to the ground. The other nations were watching cautiously, and they took a step back out of fear.

"I can invoke hypothermia in whoever I touch," Antarctica said, staring at the other nations evenly. "Japan is still alive, since the Koreas want to deal with him themselves. But the rest of you would die."

Afghanistan removed a gun, and she shot at Antarctica, who glared at her in annoyance.

"Get away!" she shouted. "I'll distract him. Hide!"

She kept shooting, and the other nations took her advice, running away. Antarctica cocked his head to the side.

"You're Afghanistan," he said. "No one told me to spare _you_."

Her eyes widened, and she continued to shoot, even as Antarctica approached. But when only a _click_ met her ears, she felt her stomach drop.

"Out of bullets," Antarctica said.

Afghanistan made a sort of _eep!_ sound that she would forever deny escaped her lips before she turned tail and ran, only to be caught in a strong grip. As everything went black for her, she felt as though she was being encased in ice.

…

The three female nations and Switzerland remained in a stalemate for quite some time, before Switzerland smirked.

"What were they thinking by sending you?" Switzerland asked. "Vietnam is the fighter, and Ukraine _might_ be one too. But why bring Taiwan along?"

"You shouldn't act all cocky," Vietnam said. "You're outnumbered here."

"Am I?"

Switzerland inclined his head slightly, and they looked past him to see Belarus standing there, glaring murderously at them. And a few seconds later Wales arrived, looking a little annoyed but still posing a threat.

"Tell you what," Switzerland said. "Since Wales is injured, Taiwan can fight him. And Vietnam and I can grapple it out. That leaves the two sisters. Seems fair?"

Taiwan looked a little insulted that she was supposed to be fighting an injured nation, while Ukraine looked torn at the thought of fighting against her little sister. Vietnam, however, narrowed her eyes before nodding her head.

While Switzerland was talking, Belarus and Wales walked up to them, with Wales limping slightly but able to keep up with Belarus's pace.

"First, tell us why you chose to come here?" Switzerland asked.

"That's none of your business," Vietnam spat.

"Fine. We'll force it out of you, one way or the other."

…

Greece was still processing the fact that Lebanon and… he didn't actually know who the other was. But he was surprised that they were there. He assumed that he had somehow fallen asleep. That his body was no longer bothered by the electrical shocks.

Or he was hallucinating. Was it possible to hallucinate while wearing a blindfold?

"Greece?" Lebanon asked. "Are you alright?"

"Are you… real?" Greece asked.

"Of course we are. Why would you… We need to get you out of here."

Greece closed his eyes again, and after a while he felt his bindings be released. The music also stopped, and he was left with a strange ringing in his ears.

"Can you stand?" Lebanon asked.

Greece tried, but he collapsed soon enough, shaking his head.

"Too tired," he muttered. "How long was I here?"

"A few days," Lebanon admitted.

Greece groaned.

"Did you get enough sleep?" the stranger asked.

Greece shook his head, and the two sighed.

"Help me support him," Lebanon said, grabbing one of Greece's arms.

…

The nations had pretty much scattered as soon as they saw what Antarctica did to Japan. But that was okay. Antarctica pretty much enjoyed being a slowly encroaching terror.

He opened one of the doors to find two children hiding inside. He could tell that they weren't human, but they weren't nations either. They were probably the regions that Italy had told him about.

There was a boy and a girl, and the girl held a rather large sword, trembling in fear. The boy tried to look brave, but was failing spectacularly.

"I'm not killing children," Antarctica said firmly, before he closed the door.

Transnistria and Vilnius slumped in relief, and Transnistria glanced towards Vilnius.

"What were you hoping to achieve with that thing?" Transnistria asked.

Vilnius glared at him.

"At least I _have_ a weapon," she whispered.

Antarctica was about to leave when he heard movement behind him. He turned around and smirked, seeing one of the nations running towards the trapdoor.

He was faster than he looked, and managed to catch up to the fleeing nation just when he reached the trapdoor. The nation screamed, and Antarctica slammed him against the wall, seeing him wince in pain.

"You're Azerbaijan," Antarctica said. "Unnecessary."

He clamped his hand on Azerbaijan's mouth, and the latter screamed, before his eyes drifted shut and the screams died. Antarctica removed his hand, allowing the nation to slump to the ground, and he turned his attention to the trapdoor.

"I'll need to fix that," he said.

…

"Brazil," Israel said coldly, though with a hint of surprise that sounded oh-so-fake. "What are you doing here? I didn't hear you knock."

Brazil moved White slightly behind him, and she was slightly surprised by the action, but used the opportunity to allow her hand to move to one of the guns on her bed.

"Don't pretend that this is a pleasant surprise," Brazil said. "I know you're with Amodi, and I've already told Anika."

Again, White was surprised by the use of her human name, and Israel shifted his stance slightly, feigning surprise yet again.

"What are you talking about?" Israel asked. "I'm a prisoner, just like everyone else."

"You're lying!" Brazil snapped. "They offered to let you join, and you accepted."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Israel said. "Why would I join them?"

"Enough," White said firmly. "I might not be able to tell when someone's lying, but I know that Brazil is telling the truth."

"What? Why would you say that?"

This time, Israel sounded wounded, and it actually sounded genuine. White sighed.

"The way you're looking at Brazil," White said. "It's the way someone would look at an enemy. An enemy that you thought beneath you. If _he_ was a part of Amodi and you knew that, you would look at him with a hint of fear. But I can only see annoyance and anger in your eyes."

Seeing Israel's perplexed look, White chuckled.

"You're forgetting that I was raised by both Netherlands and England," she said. "One of them doesn't show his emotions, and the other isn't honest about his. I learned at a pretty young age to read emotions by looking at someone's eyes. It helps me figure out if I'm dealing with a friend or foe. Now, tell me what game you were playing with me, Israel! What did you hope to achieve?"

Israel took a step forward, breathing deeply. His eyes flickered to the weapons on the bed, but White kept her eyes fixed on him.

"I wasn't playing a game with you," Israel said. "I love you."

…

Russia sighed in relief when he reached the shack, and he ran inside. He paled when he saw the rug had been moved, and he quickly attempted to open the trapdoor.

Only to find that he couldn't.

…

"This way!" Czech shouted, Slovakia following behind her.

They tried to avoid stepping on Afghanistan, Japan and Azerbaijan. They were successful, but stopped when they saw the trapdoor.

"Oh no…" Czech whispered.

The ceiling, especially where the trapdoor could be seen, was covered in a large chunk of ice.

"No one's leaving."

The two jumped and whipped around to see Antarctica, smiling lazily at them.

"Perhaps I should wait for all of you to come here," Antarctica said. "Unless there's another exit, of course."

The two exchanged a look. Truthfully, they were unaware if there _was_ another exit.

Antarctica started to approach them, and the two clung to each other in fear.

…

"You're pretty weak, aren't you?" Canada taunted, his hands gripping Turkey's wrists while the latter was trying to supposedly strangle him.

"And you're stronger than you look," Turkey said. "Must be America's influence."

Canada growled, before he threw Turkey to the side. The other nation grunted when he hit the wall. Cyprus took his chance to swing a punch at Canada, but the North American managed to dodge the hit and kicked Cyprus in the stomach, sending him to the ground. Canada turned his attention back to Turkey.

" _Never_ compare me to America," Canada snapped.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Turkey asked, smirking.

" _I'm_ the oldest! _He_ should be compared to _me_!"

"You're the oldest? Really? The way I understand it, he grew up faster than you. He was already a teenager while you were still a kid. Doesn't that make _him_ older?"

Canada's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Brace yourself, old man," Canada said.

"Old man?!"

The two launched themselves at each other again. Cyprus stood to the side, a small smile of amusement on his face as he rubbed his stomach. He never thought that Turkey would use his powers of provocation on anyone other than Greece, but it seemed to work very well.

Cyprus turned his attention to the door when he heard it open again, and he sighed in relief when he saw Faroe, Lebanon and Greece. That meant that he could focus on something else.

Egypt.

Hungary and Syria were keeping Egypt busy, and it was time for Cyprus to join the fray. The other two saw that they had managed to retrieve Greece, and it was time to put their plan into action.

Hungary hit Egypt in the head with her frying pan, and he turned to her with an annoyed expression.

"You know that it wouldn't work, right?" Egypt asked. "It's barely able to give me a headache."

"Oh, I'd say it worked," Hungary said, twirling her frying pan while wearing a smile.

"And how do you figure that?"

"You're distracted."

Egypt's eyes widened just as Syria and Cyprus grabbed his arms. Hungary worked fast, removing her dagger and plunging it in Egypt's chest.

On their trek to the base, they had discussed a plan of action. Since Egypt was smaller, he would make an easier target than Canada. Turkey would distract Canada while they took care of Egypt, the moment they knew that Greece was safe.

They heard a snarl of rage through Egypt's cry of pain, and they knew that Canada was aware of what was happening to his lover.

Hungary worked fast, creating a cut large enough for any of them to stick their hands in. But just when she managed to do that, Turkey was thrown into her, knocking her to the ground. She cried out in pain as her ankle twisted under her.

"Stay away from him!" Canada shrieked.

Syria took advantage of the situation to plunge his hand in Egypt's chest, ignoring the other's struggles and screams as he gripped the heart and pulled it out.

"This is for everyone," Syria said, throwing the heart to the ground before stomping on it.

There were two screams. One was from Egypt, and was a scream of pain. The other was from Canada, which was a scream of rage and anguish. Syria and Cyprus released Egypt, who dropped to the ground as he stopped screaming.

They stared in horror at Canada, with both ribbons visible. The red one was severed and fraying, while the black one was also severed, but thickening.

"I think it's time to go," Cyprus said.

The others nodded, and they ran towards Greece and the others, but Canada managed to grab Syria, throwing him through the glass wall. He also grabbed Hungary, who couldn't keep up with her sprained ankle.

"Go!" Hungary shouted.

Faroe nodded, and while Cyprus tried to retrieve Syria, only to be stopped by Turkey, Faroe muttered a spell and they disappeared.

Canada growled, before he rounded on Hungary. He slammed her against the wall and wrapped his hand around her throat.

"You _bitch_!" Canada growled.

"Not so… _fun_ if you're… the one that loses… someone," she managed to gasp, wearing a smile.

"Are you really so desperate to join your beloved Austria, or perhaps Prussia?"

"It _would_ … be nice to… see them… again. But… more than that… I'm glad I… could do my part… to stop… you."

"By rescuing someone that was conditioned to want to kill whoever is around him, and knowing the means to kill them?"

"What?"

"He was never made part of our territories." He smirked. "It was always our attention to give him back to you, so that _he_ could kill you all."

Canada's grip tightened, and Hungary gasped desperately.

"Your friends are doomed, but you won't be around to see them fall," Canada said.

Syria groaned, his body in pain. His eyes snapped open when he heard Hungary scream, but he couldn't force himself to his feet.

He waited in silence for a few moments. He didn't know what was happening, only that he had been left there.

Along with a nation that was pissed off.

When the door opened and said nation entered, Syria couldn't help the fear that froze his entire body. And the ice that froze him came from Canada's eyes.

"Gupta's dead," Canada said. "And so is Hungary. You killed him. But before I can return the favour, I have a few questions for you."

…

"You _love_ me?" White asked incredulously. "If you _loved_ me, then you wouldn't have lied to me."

"Then what was I supposed to do?" Israel asked. "Tell you that I've joined the ranks of those that kidnapped you? It was easier to tell you that I was a prisoner."

"Why did you join them in the first place?"

Israel took a deep breath.

"Because they offered me a chance to get back at all the nations that have hurt me for thousands of years," Israel said. "And a chance to be with you again."

Her eyes narrowed.

"So, I'm some _prize_ for your loyalty?" she snapped.

"No, of course not!" Israel said. "I just…"

"Were you planning to tell me? That you _willingly_ joined them?"

"No! You're better off not knowing."

"As some sort of puppet?"

Israel growled, his eyes landing on Brazil.

"What did you tell her?" he demanded.

"I told her that you're a member of _them_ ," Brazil said firmly.

"And nothing else? Like, after your escape, why you came _here_?"

White paused, before she turned to Brazil.

"I hate to say it, all things considered," White said. "But why _did_ you come _here_ , if you managed to escape?"

Brazil flinched, his face turning red. He averted his eyes, mumbling things in Portuguese that she could barely even hear, let alone understand.

"Well?" White asked, confused by Brazil's behaviour.

The South American sighed, before launching himself forward. White widened her eyes when she felt Brazil's lips on her own.

Oh.

The kiss was chaste and gentle, and Brazil pulled back after a few seconds, his face completely red. She had a feeling that her own face was a shade close to his.

But then she felt something from the doorway. She turned towards it, and Israel was fuming in rage. She could practically see the rage oozing off of him.

"You… BASTARD!" Israel shouted. "How dare you! _How dare you_!"

Israel then screamed in pain, curling in on himself. White's eyes widened when she saw red and black ribbons appearing around his arms, their ends fraying.

"Egypt…" Israel whispered, eyes wide.

"Time to go," Brazil said, taking her hand. "One of them just died, and we need to get out of here if you want your freedom."

She nodded her head, and Israel ran up to them, lunging at Brazil with his hands outstretched, as though he was ready to strangle him. Brazil managed to kick Israel aside, starting to drag White away.

"Wait!" she said, pulling her hand away and grabbing one or two revolvers. "I think we might need these."

He nodded his head, and the two ran off. They only managed to get to the door when they heard a _bang_ , followed by Brazil crying out in pain. White whipped her head behind her to see Israel, holding a pistol with an absolute murderous look on his face. White and Brazil ran ahead, the latter clutching his shoulder.

"I've got something in my garage that should help us with Israel being trigger happy," she said.

"Garage?"

"Motorhome."

He nodded his head in understanding.

"As long as we get away from him," he said.

"Don't think you're off the hook, though," she said. "We need to talk, as soon as we're safe."

 **I've been wanting to kill Egypt for a while. There were two other times when he should have died, but it didn't work with the story, so Egypt got to live a little longer. But there was also a bit of foreshadowing, which I will reveal in the next chapter. I wanted it to be this chapter, but I didn't think the scene with White, Israel and Brazil would take so long.**

 **Since both Transnistria and Vilnius like Russia (in spite of the opinions of the nations they belong to), I imagined that the two of them wouldn't like each other, since they're little kids trying to get the attention of the same man, who at this point would be the closest they get to family. I wanted to showcase it, but didn't get a chance. So there's a reference to their relationship in this chapter.**


	79. Chapter 78

**Thanks to Elsa, Terra, Kattie, imbloodylondonmate, Pink Tourmaline, StuffyJinx, shoujochan, Shattering Colors, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior, DoCaPZianne and two anons for reviewing. Wow. Over 700 reviews. Thanks guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 78**

Laos widened his eyes. He knew that their captors would be very angry now.

A blizzard was brewing. Another thread in their web had snapped.

…

Antarctica leisurely strolled through the base, searching for the nations. This place was actually quite large. Many places to hide. Many ways to make the game more interesting.

He passed through an archway and saw that it was some sort of computer room. There he found a nation carrying a wok with a frown on his face. He was resting all of his weight on one leg, and Antarctica supposed that he was injured.

"You need to get another weapon," Antarctica said. "That thing will be useless in the long run."

The nation, who he recognised to be China, narrowed his eyes. His body grew taut, as though he was preparing for an attack. But whether it was to defend or launch an attack, Antarctica was unsure. Either way, he didn't care.

"The Koreas wanted me to keep you alive," Antarctica said. "They want to deal with you personally. So unless you want to get hurt, I suggest you stand down. You wouldn't want to damage your leg."

China flinched when he brought up the subject to the Koreas, and he shifted his stance slightly when he mentioned his leg.

"Where's Japan?" China demanded. "What did you do to him?"

"He's fine," Antarctica said. "Just unconscious."

China relaxed, and seeing no other reason to remain, Antarctica turned to leave.

"Wait," China said. "Why are you doing this?"

"I have no reason to explain myself to you," Antarctica said, before walking away.

He had only taken a few steps when he felt a stabbing pain through his body. He looked down at his hands and saw red and black ribbons wrapping around them. He frowned, willing the ribbons away.

"Looks like _someone's_ going to be angry," Antarctica mused. "I wonder if I can find someone that would cheer him up…"

…

"I hope everyone's alright," America said.

Thailand looked towards him and smiled reassuringly.

"Are you talking about the ones at the base, or your states?" Thailand asked.

"Everyone," America said.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. Russia, China and Japan won't allow anyone to get hurt, and if your states are anything like you, I'm sure they'll be fine."

America smiled.

"You're a great guy," America said. "Thanks."

"Thinking negatively won't help anyone," Pakistan said. "We just need to hope for the best."

"You're worried about Afghanistan, aren't you?" Jordan asked.

"I'm worried about anyone trying to pick a fight with her," Pakistan said.

…

Romano cried out in pain as the ribbons appeared on his hands. His eyes widened as he realised what had happened, and _who_ it had happened to.

Egypt was killed, and Canada was more than likely pissed. Not to mention what Veneziano's reaction might be.

They had already gone through all of their prisoners. None of them knew anything about Brazil, or how he managed to escape. Which meant another failure that he would have to notify his brother about, who would more than likely be unhappy about the fact that Egypt had been killed.

But it was concerning. First, a micronation had died. It was possible that it could happen, since they didn't have as much security in their state of being that nations had. Which was why the other micronations in their ranks had to become full-fledged nations, _fast._ Deaths had occurred earlier than planned. The suffering of those nations hadn't been drawn out as much as they would have liked. They just wanted to make sure that their weakest allies couldn't be killed through the same means anymore. And second, a region had been killed. Only the nation that he belonged to could have killed him so easily, or at least could have given permission to kill him. But now a _nation_ had been killed.

Their enemies were growing smarter, and more desperate. But how did they achieve the means?

He looked up when the door opened, and India came in with a pained expression.

"Egypt's dead," India said.

"I know," Romano said.

"We have to report our side to Italy."

"I know. I'll call Carlino. He can decide when the best time would be to tell Feliciano."

"Glad I'm not him. How do you think Canada's handling it?"

"Knowing him, he'd make sure that the ones responsible are suffering."

…

"Please, I don't want to fight you!" Ukraine exclaimed.

"I don't think you can call this 'fighting'," Belarus said.

Ukraine had been pinned to the ground by Belarus. Her arms were pinned by Belarus's legs, leaving the younger nation's hands free.

Taiwan managed to keep the upper hand by keeping out of Wales's reach, and dodging any magical attack he threw her way. She noticed that he wasn't really trying that hard, and wondered if whatever injury he had received was keeping him from fighting to the best of his abilities. She _did_ notice that every time he moved, he would wince in pain and grit his teeth. So she tried to keep him moving. For once, she was glad for her youth. She still had more energy than most of the older nations.

Vietnam and Switzerland, on the other hand, were equally matched. Both of them were favouring hand-to-hand combat, to which Vietnam really couldn't complain. If Switzerland had any of his guns there, then it could prove to be problematic for her.

Belarus took out a knife, the tip positioned at Ukraine's jugular. The older nation tensed, waiting for the blade to pierce her skin.

"As much as I would want to kill you now, I need to be professional," Belarus said. "So, you will tell me what I want to know, and I won't torture you."

"W-why do you expect me to tell you anything?" Ukraine asked.

Belarus smirked, before she lightly stabbed one of Ukraine's breasts. It wasn't very deep, but it was still fairly painful. Ukraine yelped in pain.

"Just like how a groin attack is the worst for a man, attacking the breasts is torture for a woman," Belarus said. "And I have a lot of surface to cover. So, what will it be?"

Ukraine closed her eyes and whimpered, before nodding her head. Belarus's smirk widened.

"Alright then," she said. "How did you know to come here?"

"Norway," Ukraine said.

"And how does _he_ know?"

"He has contact with all the nations you killed. They know about everything that's going on, and are more than willing to help."

Belarus frowned.

"Well, that's annoying," she said. "But I guess it _does_ answer one or two questions regarding the afterlife, at least for nations. I've only managed to get in contact with human ghosts. Oh well. And how did you get here?"

"Norway used his magic," Ukraine said.

"Does he even have enough?"

"Not as much as he used to."

"Fine. And why did you come here?"

"We came to help Brazil."

"Norway told you that he needs help?"

"Just in case."

"You wouldn't happen to know how he escaped us, would you?"

Ukraine pursed her lips together, and Belarus narrowed her eyes. She stabbed the side of one breast, earning a small scream of pain.

"There's a… loophole," Ukraine gasped.

"A loophole in _what_?" Belarus demanded.

"Your… control."

"And _what_ is this loophole?"

Ukraine whimpered again, and Belarus prepared to stab her again when pain ripped through her body. Wales and Switzerland also cried out in pain, and red and black ribbons appeared around their hands, except Wales only had black ribbons.

"No!" Belarus shouted. "What happened? Egypt?"

Ukraine smiled.

"Looks like they succeeded," she whispered.

Belarus heard her, and her face twisted in rage. She stabbed Ukraine's breast again, going deeper than before and earning a scream of pain. She kept the knife lodged there before reaching into one of her pockets.

"Ukraine!" Vietnam shouted, as she and Taiwan ran towards them, their opponents currently distracted.

Belarus was shoved off and they helped Ukraine to her feet, who whimpered at the pain in her chest. Vietnam threw her arm around her shoulders, and Taiwan supported her waist.

They all let out a little scream as a gunshot echoed, and Ukraine slumped in their hold. Vietnam looked back to see Belarus poised with a handgun, and turning her attention to Ukraine's back, she saw a growing red stain.

"No…" Vietnam whispered.

…

"Where are we?" Turkey asked.

"My place," Faroe said. "I panicked, and this was the first place I thought of."

"It's fine," Lebanon said. "Still cold, though."

Cyprus helped Greece lie on a couch, and he sighed.

"Apparently, he was kept awake the whole time," Lebanon said.

"Sleep deprivation's a good way to promote brainwashing," Turkey said. "Just this once, we can let him sleep."

"We shouldn't have left them there," Cyprus said.

Turkey sighed.

"Hungary told us to go," Turkey said. "And if we wasted our time to get Syria too, then…"

"Then they wouldn't have two other prisoners!" Cyprus snapped. "They could be killed by now, or _worse_! We have to go back."

"We can't," Turkey said. "If they're already dead, then it would only be a waste of time. And Canada would have another prisoner or two. We can't afford for it to happen."

Cyprus looked away, his face hard and tears gathering in his eyes. Turkey sighed, wrapping his arm around the younger nation's shoulders.

"Look, I feel bad about it too," Turkey said. "But we can't go back now. It's too dangerous. You saw what Canada's like. I don't want to expose any of you to that again."

"The most we can hope for now is that they aren't tortured," Lebanon said.

"It's Amodi," Cyprus said. "They _live_ for torture."

"Maybe he's too angry for that," Faroe said.

"Either way, we managed to get Greece back," Turkey said. "And if we get word of what's happening to Hungary or Syria, we might go back. Depending on the situation."

"This is wrong," Cyprus said. "This is seriously wrong."

…

Brazil paused when he saw the vehicle, his jaw dropping.

"You have _this_ in here?" he asked.

"Ja," she said. "Sometimes a military-grade vehicle is enough to send the message that you don't want to mess with that person."

She climbed into the front seat, and he pulled himself into the passenger seat. She pressed a button on a remote, and the garage door opened. She pressed another button, and he could see the main gate open.

"What's going on there?" she asked.

Brazil looked ahead and saw the three Amodi nations from earlier, as well as three others.

"Switzerland, Belarus and I think Wales are part of Amodi," he said. "But I'm not sure about the other three."

"That gunshot we just heard…" she said.

"You think…?"

She didn't answer, starting the car. Brazil gasped when the vehicle launched forward, narrowly missing Switzerland, who managed to duck out of the way.

White opened her door, along with another door on the side.

"Get in!" she said, aiming one of the guns towards Belarus.

Brazil could see that the others were Taiwan, Vietnam and Ukraine, and they hastily got inside while White was shooting at Belarus and Wales.

"Thanks," Vietnam said, closing the door.

White quickly closed the door again and sped away, forcing Brazil to grip his seat.

"What _is_ this thing?" Taiwan asked.

"The Marauder," White said. "How's Ukraine?"

The two Asians were quiet. Brazil looked backwards.

"Is she…?" he asked.

"She's dead," Vietnam said.

"We lost someone else," Taiwan said.

"I take it you're _not_ with Amodi," White said.

"You weren't sure?!" Brazil asked. "And where did you learn to drive?"

"Black," White said. "He thought it would be a good idea if I knew how to drive like a taxi driver. I taught him how to drive properly. Don't worry, I'll drive properly as soon as we're outside Joburg."

"Great," Brazil sighed.

"Vietnam, Taiwan, could you fill us in on everything that's happened?" White asked.

"Sure," Vietnam said.

…

"Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!"

Poland watched as Italy freaked out. He knew why, of course. Egypt had been killed, and they had all felt the snap as the Bonds suffered from the loss. Add in the loss of sleep as they searched for something that they might have missed, and Italy was _not_ in the best place.

Poland sighed, before he walked over to Italy. He silently wrapped his arms around his lover, and the Italian burst into tears, clinging to Poland.

"You're under a lot of stress," Poland said. "You need to get some sleep."

"I can't," Italy sobbed. "All of our planning… Everything's going wrong. It's not supposed to happen. Everything's not supposed to collapse around us."

"Hey," Poland said softly, tilting Italy's head upwards. "Everything _isn't_ going wrong. Our enemies are just retaliating. We expected that they would eventually find a way. We just need to wait a while, figure out what they're doing, and adapt."

Italy sniffed, hugging Poland closer.

"Gupta was family," Italy said. "I lost family."

"I know," Poland said, stroking the other's hair. "I know. Why don't you let me take care of things for a while, and you take things easy?"

"But…"

Poland pulled away slightly, before he placed a kiss on Italy's cheek.

"You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders," Poland said. "I'm here. Your brothers are here. All of our allies are ready to help, no matter what."

"I'm just afraid, if the Bonds continue to break…" Italy said.

"If we need to, we'll remind everyone why they joined in the first place. So, you don't need to worry. We'll find a way out. We always do. Remember how things used to be?"

"You'll need to be more specific."

"When we didn't know everyone's different personalities. When we didn't know how everyone would act. When new nations kept popping up. We couldn't predict them, and we always managed to turn a situation in our favour. How did we do it?"

"We adapted."

"Exactly. We just need to adapt again. Looks like our enemies are making things interesting. You can never trust something that goes according to plan. It's fishy. The calm before the storm. And right now, it's the darkness before the dawn. We'll find a solution, alright? So please, don't stress yourself. It hurts me to see you like this."

Italy smiled softly, before he hugged Poland again.

"Thanks, Feliks," Italy said. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"Of course. You'd think I'd know how to please the person I love. Now, get some rest, and I'll take care of business in the meantime."

Italy nuzzled Poland.

"Could you come with me?" Italy asked. "I want to cuddle."

Poland smiled, and he pulled one arm away to have his other arm around both shoulders. They turned to the door and froze.

"Carlino!" Italy cried out.

…

Vatican looked up when San Marino entered, looking a little irked. Vatican smiled at the other.

"I take it you walked in on them again?" Vatican asked.

"Not exactly," San Marino said. "The door was open, and I waited until they were finished. And then I gave them Lovi's message. Feli is beyond pissed. So right now, I don't care _what_ they do, as long as Feliks manages to calm him down. By the way, I'm not speaking to him again today. I don't think I want to walk in again."

Vatican shook his head.

"You _really_ need to be more careful," Vatican said, pulling the other into a hug.

"Do you think I _like_ it?" San Marino asked.

"You do. Sometimes."

…

Syria screamed as his ears were assaulted. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt as though something was drilling into his skull.

He had been tied up and left in the room where they had gotten Greece, and he had a feeling that it was equipped for more than just brainwashing. Or perhaps it was part of it.

He started to feel as though he was on fire, but looking at his body he saw nothing. It didn't stop the pain, though, and it brought forth another wave of screams.

Canada had walked out, hearing Syria's screams but paying them no mind. He had turned on everything they had containing audio files designed to mess with a person's mind, creating images and sensations that weren't there. To be more exact, he chose everything that could give the suggestion of physical torture without having to do a thing.

He crouched down and scooped Egypt into his arms. The other's body was cold, and Canada burst into tears.

"Gupta…" Canada muttered. "I'm sorry. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. But they will _pay_. Do you understand? They will _pay_."

He heard soft paws padding on the floor and he turned to see Kumajiro.

"Get ready, Kuma," Canada said. "We're going to launch an attack the likes of which the world has never seen before."

…

Slovenia gasped when the door opened. He stood protectively in front of Serbia, even if it would all be for nought. He had been there when Japan had alerted them originally, and knew what Antarctica could do. But he would still protect the last member of his family.

Antarctica raised an eyebrow.

"Romania told me to keep you alive," Antarctica said. "It would be more satisfying."

Slovenia's eyes widened as the door closed again, and he rushed forward.

"What do you mean?" Slovenia asked, pulling on the door, but it wouldn't budge. "What would be more satisfying?"

There was no answer, and Slovenia continued to try to open the door, without success. Finally he sank to the floor, before turning to Serbia.

Serbia was watching him with a blank look, and Slovenia knew that he had a feeling about what was going on, but he couldn't respond. He didn't feel anything.

 _What_ would be more satisfying?

 **The Marauder is an armoured vehicle developed for recon and peacekeeping missions, and it originated from South Africa. A civilian version also exists. It was featured on an episode of Top Gear, where it was driven through Johannesburg (where the group currently find themselves).**

 **Laos predicted Egypt's death a while back. It was in a dream, represented by a blizzard. The blizzard represents Canada's rage after losing his lover. And in the same dream, he saw a mirror being broken. Who do you think that might refer to?**

 **As a woman, I know how painful an attack to the breasts can be, but I also checked what TV Tropes have to say about it. It's the distaff counterpart of a groin attack, and the site actually says that it's to women what a groin attack is to men. It also mentioned that a groin attack would be more effective on women as well due to the amount of nerves collected there, but the breasts are a bigger target. It's also mentioned to be a low blow if you attack there (i.e. dirty trick), and can be a particularly cruel torture. It was actually used for torture in Wilbur Smith's** _ **The Seventh Scroll**_ **, with a lit cigarette being continuously pressed against a woman's breasts in order to gain information.**

 **I realised I made a mistake regarding garage and motorhome. We refer to it as garage in both English and Afrikaans, but I wasn't sure if other countries do. I think I heard it referred to in another way. But another word for it in Afrikaans is motorhuis, with 'huis' being the word for 'house', or 'home' in certain contexts. So my brain kind of mixed up translation with alternate references.**


	80. Chapter 79

**Thanks to Pink-Tourmaline, fan-arter, Kattie, Terra, Shattering Colors, pastaaddict, StuffyJinx, Eternal Nexus Warrior, ScandinavianTrash and Toesz for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 79**

Antarctica opened the door to another room, only to find it empty. He frowned, taking a moment to sense whether or not a nation was there. After not feeling anything he closed the door again.

Quebec waited for a moment before he stepped out of the closet. He knew enough about Antarctica to know that the other couldn't sense a region. He reached over to help Madeira out.

"Is he gone?" Madeira asked.

Quebec nodded his head, rubbing his arms.

"Do you think the others managed to find a good hiding place?" she asked.

Michoacán had passed by when General Winter informed China and Japan that Antarctica was there. She went to Quebec to hear what he knew. Upon hearing who was there, his eyes had widened and he said the simple word: hide.

They had scattered immediately, and Madeira had followed him into his room, along with…

"He's not very thorough, is he?"

Catalonia crawled out from under the bed, looking annoyed. Beside her, Gibraltar forced her way out, looking between them and her eyes landing on Q-uebec.

"I suppose it's a good thing he's not," Gibraltar said. "If he _was_ , then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"You have a point," Catalonia said. "Now I suppose we'd have to wait for the others?"

"Sim," Madeira said. "And hope they managed to get to safety."

…

Russia was pacing frantically. His base only had one entrance, and since he couldn't enter it…

The fact that he was responsible for his allies being in a death trap did not escape him. And it made him feel absolutely horrible.

He kept thinking of things that he could do to save them, before sighing.

"General, can you hear me?" Russia asked.

He waited a while for General Winter to appear in front of him, looking a little haggard.

"I need you to help them," Russia said. "I also need to get inside."

The General narrowed his eyes.

"China asked me to get the younger ones to safety," the General said. "I sent them to your house in St. Petersburg."

Russia nodded his head.

"Thank you," Russia said. "At least the younger ones are safe."

"Not _all_ of them," the General said.

Russia looked distressed.

"I need you to get me inside," Russia said. "And you continue to get them out."

The General sighed.

"Fine," he said. "But there are a few things you need to know."

…

China limped his way to the entrance, and when he saw the bodies lying on the floor he paled.

Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Czech, Slovakia and Japan. China checked each of them. Only Japan was still alive.

He didn't think that he needed any more evidence to know just how dangerous Antarctica was. But he still wanted to know what the nations of Amodi had to do or say to convince the continent to join their ranks. If only they could figure out what his motive was, then they might find a way to stop his rampage.

…

"What the hell?"

Liechtenstein glanced towards Puerto Rico with a bored expression, the black ribbons showing clearly on both their arms. But Liechtenstein already knew what it was.

"Egypt just died," Liechtenstein said. "Remind me to give Canada a call. I need to give my condolences."

He looked at her in surprise, and she turned away.

"What can you tell me about Vermont?" she asked.

"He's a bit of a hippie," he said. "He's one of the more pacifist states, and… Basically, think of all the stereotypes about Canada, and you pretty much have Vermont."

She smirked.

"You mean, Canada's mask," she said. "It's a shame. I'm sure he would have preferred to deal with Vermont himself. But we're already here."

"He's not much of a fighter," Puerto Rico said. "But he's good at setting traps and hiding. He won't be easy to deal with."

"That's good. The more of a challenge he gives, the more satisfying his death would be."

…

Antarctica decided to check the kitchen, and he smirked when he saw several nations there. He recognised Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan. Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. All of them were holding knives out in front of them. And all of them looked terrified.

"Well, all of you are lined up," Antarctica said. "But, instead of dealing with you one by one…"

There were four screams before Antarctica walked away, leaving the room frozen, along with the four nations.

…

Switzerland, Wales and Belarus went inside the house, searching for Israel. They knew that he must have been upset. They also wanted to hear his side of things.

They found him in what appeared to be a bedroom, with a bunch of firearms on the bed. He was looking through them, and when he would find one he liked, he'd place them in a bag.

"What happened?" Switzerland asked.

"Brazil came," Israel said. "Told her about my allegiances, and they left. I tried to stop them, but when I felt the ribbons snapping… It's Egypt, isn't it?"

"Yes," Belarus said. "Is there anything more you could tell us?"

"Yes," Israel said, looking at them coldly. "I managed to overhear them talking. Brazil told her that there's a loophole in our system. That if one of us dies, then there's a small window of opportunity for our prisoners to escape."

Belarus and Switzerland exchanged a look.

"We need to report this," Switzerland said.

"You do that," Israel said. "I'm going to see if I can find Anika."

"How?" Wales asked.

Israel lifted his right hand, revealing the ribbon wrapped around it. It was thinner than the rest of their ribbons, and they knew that it was because the love was one-sided. Still, it was strong enough for Israel to be able to follow it.

"Then good luck with that," Belarus said. "Try to find them. And… Well, Italy would most likely call at some point. He'll tell you whether or not to keep Brazil alive."

Israel didn't look happy, but he nodded his head.

"What are you going to do when you get her back?" Wales asked.

"Simple," Israel said. "I'm going to make sure she never runs away from me again. Even if I have to tie her to a bed and break her legs. She'll never leave me again."

Switzerland and Belarus shared another look.

"Good luck with that then," Switzerland said.

…

Russia's eyes widened when the General brought him to the other side of the entrance. He saw several nations lying around. China was crouched beside Japan, and he looked up when he suddenly noticed Russia's presence.

"Are they alright?" Russia asked.

China shook his head.

"No," China said. "Japan is the only one among them who's alive. He's keeping nations alive that Amodi wants to personally deal with. Like me and Japan."

Russia looked around, feeling his rage grow. Azerbaijan, Czech, Slovakia and Afghanistan… They were all killed by this new enemy. One that they didn't even know _existed_ until now.

Russia turned to the entrance, and saw that the reason why he couldn't open it was because the ceiling was cased in ice. He turned back to China.

"Did you see him?" Russia asked.

China nodded.

"He's not puny, I'll tell you that," China said. "And he's taking his time. I think he knows that we can't get out, and he's making us suffer by dragging this out."

"Which way is he?" Russia asked.

Before China could answer, four screams were heard. Russia paled when he recognised them.

"Nyet," he whispered, before rushing away.

"Good luck," China whispered.

…

"How are you feeling?" White asked, glancing towards Brazil.

"It's just a bullet wound," Brazil said. "I'll be fine."

"Don't be so sure," Vietnam said. "Amodi has guns designed to kill a nation, and if it's not fatal, then it hurts like hell."

"It was one of _my_ firearms," White said.

"Oh," Taiwan said. "So, what now?"

"Well, we _could_ make our way to Pretoria, but the Marauder is too conspicuous," White said. "And the traffic there's worse than Joburg's."

"I thought this place is called 'Johannesburg'," Vietnam said.

"Only foreigners and non-native English speakers consistently refer to it as Johannesburg," White said. "Joburg's just easier to say."

"OK," Brazil said. "Um, listen, before I snuck in, I ran into Rascal. He distracted Amodi for me."

"Remind me to thank him later," White said.

"Will he be okay?"

"Of course he will."

"Where are we going now?" Vietnam asked.

"First we're going to Bloemfontein so that I can get another car," White said. "And then there's someone I need to see."

"Also, while we're on the subject, do you think you can get us a few diamonds?" Taiwan asked.

"Diamonds?" Brazil repeated. "Why do you want that?"

"Norway and the others need help with their magic," Taiwan explained. "They can't really draw from their lands anymore, so they need another source."

"Alright," White said. "That can be arranged."

"And personally, I'd like to know what everyone else had been up to," Brazil said.

…

Antarctica entered another room, but he couldn't find anyone. He was about to close the door when he heard movement. He re-entered the room, eyes focused on the bed. Or, more specifically, what was under it.

He grabbed the bed and moved it aside, revealing two teenagers, who screamed in shock. He didn't recognise them, and he couldn't sense that they were nations, so he assumed they were regions. However, while he didn't want to hurt children, they couldn't exactly be called children anymore.

He grabbed them when they tried to run away, managing to place his hands against each of their throats, though not choking them. Soon enough they went limp, and he dropped them to the floor.

"No," someone whimpered.

Antarctica heard the whimper, and he turned to the closet. He approached it and flung it open, revealing someone hiding there.

When he left the room, three of the Channel Islands – Brecqhou, Alderney and Guernsey – were lying dead.

…

"Alright," Poland said. "Thanks for telling me."

He hung up the phone and sighed. He had been hoping to help Italy relax, but it was a useless endeavour now.

Italy was thankfully asleep, and Poland placed a soft kiss on his head before he left the room, intending to search for San Marino. There was an announcement that needed to reach everyone.

He found San Marino in the communications room, his designated office. He was making out with Vatican. Poland cleared his throat, and the two flew apart.

"W-what d-do you w-want?" San Marino stuttered, blushing madly.

"Not so fun being on that end, is it?" Poland asked. "I need you to spread the word."

San Marino grew serious. 'Spread the word' was code for 'everyone in their ranks needed to know'.

"What is it?" San Marino asked.

"Is it about Egypt's death?" Vatican asked. "Because I think by now, _everyone_ knows."

"It's related," Poland said. "Apparently, there's a loophole we've never had the opportunity to discover. All the precautions we have in place to prevent treason and desertion… If one of us dies, our prisoners have an opportunity to escape. We don't know how long this lasts, but we now know how Brazil escaped."

"Tokyo…" San Marino mused.

"Also, the Continent Conquest has been nullified. South Africa broke free."

"So _that's_ why I feel drained," Vatican said. "What will we do?"

"Israel's going to try to get South Africa back," Poland said. "And it might not be the healthiest of relationships, but she never joined our ranks, and she needs to be punished. Whatever Israel has in mind for him is none of our concern."

"Got it," Vatican said. "I almost feel sorry for her."

"Feliciano is sleeping, so if something comes up, report to _me_."

"Understood," San Marino said.

…

Antarctica entered another room, and he smirked. Norway was sleeping on the bed. Italy had asked him to bring the former nation back, alive. He didn't know what Italy had in mind, but it wouldn't be pretty.

Just as he took a step forward he felt something against his back. He turned around to see two teenagers.

He actually _did_ know who these two were. Åland, who was a relative of Finland, and Greenland, a territory too large to simply be labelled a region. Greenland had her hand raised with sparks flying around her fingers, and Antarctica realised that she could use magic.

"That's enough," Åland said. "You're not going to hurt him."

"I have no intention of doing that," Antarctica said, smiling darkly. "I was given orders to return him. But regarding you… no special orders. Which means I can kill you."

Their eyes widened at Antarctica's words, and as Antarctica moved towards them they started to run. However, Antarctica managed to get Åland, and he wrapped his arm around him in order to place his hand against his heart.

"No," Åland said as his struggles became feeble.

"Leave him alone!" Greenland shouted, running up to him.

Antarctica caught her by the wrist as Åland's eyes started to flutter closed. Greenland struggled to remove her wrist as Antarctica's power started to take effect.

Antarctica felt something hit his head, and he turned to face whoever had decided that it was a good idea to attack him.

He wasn't too surprised to see Russia standing there.

"Leave them alone, Antarctica," Russia said.

Antarctica cocked his head to the side.

"Belarus wanted me to keep you alive," Antarctica said. "So I have no business with you."

Russia prepared to strike with his pipe again, however, Greenland had other ideas. She managed to jump slightly, kicking out to hit between Antarctica's legs. The continent flinched, but otherwise didn't react, save for his grip on the two Nordics loosening. With Russia's help, Greenland managed to get away, pulling Åland with her.

Greenland managed to duck into Norway's room, slamming the door shut behind them. She checked Åland's vitals, and felt her stomach drop when she failed to feel a pulse.

"No," she whispered.

He was placed on his back, and she quickly moved to wake Norway. He groaned, opening his eyes in annoyance.

"What's happening?" Norway asked.

"We're under attack," Greenland said. "Åland… he doesn't have a pulse!"

Norway was instantly alert, and he went to Åland's side. She bit her lip as she watched him work on the island nation.

After a while he sighed, looking up at her.

"I managed to revive his heart," Norway said. "But I'm not sure if he'll wake up. It's possible he's in a coma."

Greenland whimpered, sinking to the floor.

"I need you to tell me what's going on," Norway said.

She nodded her head and started to explain all that had happened since Antarctica arrived.

…

Syria sighed in relief when the sonic torture was ended. He opened his eyes, seeing a blurry figure. His eyes were having difficulties focusing on what's around him. But he knew that it was Canada. There was no one else.

"I just received some important information," Canada said, and Syria could barely hear him. "So, our prisoners can escape if one of us dies?"

Syria's eyes widened. How did he…?

"You know what the worst part was?" Canada asked, ignoring Syria's reaction. "Greece was never truly captured. He wouldn't have died if he attempted escape. Which means…" Here, Canada's voice became filled with rage. "You killed Gupta for _nothing_!"

Syria screamed as a wave of electricity surged through his body. The current stopped, and he was left panting in pain.

"How unfortunate for you," Canada said. "Suddenly, you lost all your use."

Syria's eyes widened at the implication. Canada moved closer…

…

"So, you're the largest nation in the world?" Antarctica asked, his head cocked to the side. "You're shorter than me."

Russia had noticed that, and he frowned in annoyance. His annoyance was only added to his anger.

"You killed many of my comrades," Russia said. "I think it's time to return the favour."

Antarctica smirked.

"Do you think you _can_?" Antarctica asked.

Russia smiled, the action lacking any semblance of warmth.

"I'll be better suited than the others, at least," Russia said.

…

"That is not a _car_."

White looked towards Vietnam and cocked her head to the side.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's a truck," Brazil stated simply.

"No it's not," White said. "That's a bakkie."

"It's a pickup truck," Taiwan said.

White shrugged.

"Don't know why you call it that," she said. "It's not a truck at all."

"So many questions are running through my mind…" Brazil muttered.

Ukraine had been deposited in White's guest room. They couldn't transport a corpse around with them. It would cause too many problems. Vietnam had told them that America was on a mission to retrieve the corpses of the fallen nations, and all that they needed to do was get the message to him regarding the location.

"Anyway, I think that we should probably get going," White said. "It's a long trip, so I hope everyone's gone to the bathroom."

Taiwan widened her eyes, before she darted off. Vietnam sighed, Brazil chuckled and White smiled.

…

The others had heard about Russia taking on Antarctica, so they all decided to creep closer. They already knew how much damage Antarctica had done, and they were hoping to see Russia defeat him.

Antarctica's eyes darted around, seeing how many nations were present, and _which_ nations were present. It was an important part of his mission, after all.

He was currently locked in a stalemate with Russia, their hands clasped and pressing their weights against the other. Well, it wasn't really a stalemate. Antarctica had more strength, and he was using his power to freeze Russia, though because the other was a cold nation and because he couldn't reach a vital point, it was taking longer than usual.

"I'm impressed," Antarctica said. "So far, only Canada and Finland have been able to hold me back."

Russia smirked.

"Never underestimate a Russian," Russia said.

Antarctica's eyes darted around, landing on Michoacán. He smirked, before he loosened his grip on Russia as he kicked him away. He then grabbed for Michoacán, removing a sphere from his pocket.

Russia paled. He knew it as the same object that Belarus had used to escape their former base.

Antarctica threw it to the ground, creating a cloud of smoke. Everyone cried out in shock.

The two of them were gone.

 **Kyrgyzstan and the three mentioned Channel Islands were killed off because I can't remember their names when I have to write something regarding the groups, and because I have to constantly check the spelling.**

 **In South Africa, we refer to pickup trucks as bakkies. It's a primarily Afrikaans term, but it's used in all languages. It's a** _ **very**_ **popular vehicle for men, and if a woman drives it, then it's almost guaranteed she lives on a farm. And yes, we see it as a car.**

 **And just a reminder that San Marino and Vatican are in a relationship.**

 **Vermont isn't a place I know much about, so I searched online for some stereotypes, finding a top 9 list. 'Hippies' was the first thing listed, and searching through the others, they're basically like the Canadian stereotypes, including maple products.**


	81. Chapter 80

**Thanks to Elsa, Pink Tourmaline, Terra, Kattie, StuffyJinx, pastaaddict, Shattering Colors, ScandinavianTrash and topaz3 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 80**

Michoacán looked around wildly, trying to take in her surroundings while she waited for her stomach to settle. Antarctica's hand was around her wrist, but he brought the other to her upper arm before releasing her wrist. She gasped, looking at her wrist. It was red, but not because of Antarctica's grip. It was because of his temperature.

"Come on," he said, dragging her along.

She reluctantly followed as she was led up a flight of stairs. She remained observant, trying to drink in as many details as possible.

Eventually Antarctica stopped in front of a door, and he knocked on it before opening it.

Michoacán felt her stomach drop when she saw Poland, and he arched an eyebrow when he saw her.

"Michoacán, I presume?" Poland asked.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded, trying very hard not to reveal her fear.

"I figured Canada could use some cheering up," Antarctica said. "And, since I failed to acquire Norway, I figured someone else highly desirable would be appreciated."

Poland nodded.

"True," Poland said. "Canada wanted her. I'll check in to see if he still does. If not, then I'll check with Mexico. Now, how did it go, Antarctica?"

"Very well, I think," Antarctica said. "Russia isn't easy to subdue with my abilities. He was absent when I first arrived, but managed to get there later."

"We're not too worried about him," Poland said dismissively. "He's Belarus's prey. Plus, we need to wait for news about Ukraine's death to reach him."

"What?" Michoacán whispered, but they ignored her.

"I managed to kill Czech and Slovakia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and three regions," Antarctica continued. "But I'm not sure if I managed to succeed with Åland. I was interrupted."

"Doesn't matter," Poland said. "If he survived, we'll inform Finland and he can decide what to do with him. But it's not a bad day's work. Anything else?"

"I managed to identify who was there," Antarctica said. "Though I'm not familiar with all the regions."

"That's alright," Poland said. "We already know which regions are there. Only the ones that still look like children are important to us."

"What?" Michoacán demanded, though they ignored her again.

"I _did_ manage to find two that resembled children," Antarctica said. "One was wearing a Lithuanian military uniform."

"Vilnius," Poland said, nodding his head. "And the other is Transnistria."

It occurred to Michoacán that they really _did_ know too much about them, and her stomach dropped. What else did they know?

And how did Antarctica know so much?

Antarctica started listing the nations that he could recognise, and Michoacán tried to remove his grip on her arm. He didn't even seem to notice her efforts.

"Was there anyone else?" Poland asked.

"Only the regions," Antarctica said.

"Well, we already know that Vietnam and Taiwan are in South Africa," Poland said. "And so was Ukraine. And _some_ of them had to leave. Otherwise I can't think how Egypt is dead. Well?"

It took Michoacán a while to realise that he was addressing her, and she shook her head defiantly.

"Stubborn," Poland said. "Mexico said so. But we know for a fact that Turkey and America are missing."

"And you'll know nothing else," Michoacán said.

"Oh well," Poland said, shrugging. "I'll take her to a room, and then I'll contact Canada to see if he still wants her."

"I could take her," Antarctica offered.

"No, you rest," Poland said. "You've done a lot today. We don't want you to feel that we're working you to the bone."

Antarctica smirked.

"It would take a while to achieve that," he said simply.

"But that's something I _wouldn't_ want to achieve," Poland said. "Go rest. I'll take care of her."

Poland had walked closer as he spoke, and just when Antarctica released her arm, Poland took the other one. Antarctica then turned and left, leaving Michoacán alone with Poland.

"I highly doubt you're really so nonchalant about everything," Michoacán said venomously.

Poland just smiled coldly.

"I know what Canada has in mind for you," Poland said. "And if not Canada, Mexico. I'm really not bothered about any lack of information while you're around. And we've already achieved quite a lot. No need to get upset."

"You don't think there's a problem," Michoacán said, her eyes wide. "You said that Egypt died, yet you don't care about the fact that your ally's dead."

"Oh, I care about it," Poland said, losing the smile. "I also know that I'm not the person that cared the _most_ about him. That would be Canada. If I attempted to take revenge for Egypt on Canada's behalf, it could cause discord."

"You want to keep the Bonds secure."

"Exactly. We don't force anyone to do what they don't want to do. If there was someone they wanted to keep alive, we'd respect their decision, for example."

At first she didn't understand what he was saying, but then she realised that the _only_ reason why she was still alive was that one of them _wanted_ her alive. And from what she had been told by Quebec, it was in order to gain revenge on her for shooting Egypt that one time. Canada intended to do to her what he did to Quebec. And if not him, then Mexico would have the option.

She didn't even know what Mexico had done to the other states. But knowing Mexico, she wouldn't want any of the others trying to do what Michoacán had been trying to do in gaining independence. She would nip it in the bud.

There was also the implication that some of Amodi's members wanted the other nations to be alive for a very specific reason. Knowing that many of them carried grudges, she could only assume that they wanted to torture their intended victim before they killed them. At the very least, they just wanted to personally kill them. At worst, they had a fate worse than death in mind.

Michoacán could do nothing as Poland dragged her to a room, and she was thrown in there unceremoniously. She heard the door lock before turning to search for windows, though there were none.

She knew that the others knew where to find the bases, thanks to Norway's help. They also knew how to save the nations that had been captured by Amodi. She just had to hope that they managed to come soon enough.

…

They stared in horror at the location where Antarctica and Michoacán had disappeared. Georgia mutely walked closer, picking up the orb left behind.

"The coordinates point to the middle of the ocean," Georgia said.

"Da," Russia said tiredly. "We've seen that thing before. We also couldn't get it to work again."

"They combined magic and technology to make it," Norway said. "And it's not the only thing they made by doing that."

"But Michoacán is gone now," China sighed. "What will they do to her?"

"She won't be killed," Norway said. "She'll just be subjected to the same thing Quebec's been through for most of his life."

"Where are they, anyway?" Kazakhstan asked.

"General Winter said that he had been trying to get the younger ones to safety," Russia said. "But he said that he hadn't managed to find them all yet."

"I noticed," Norway said. "Otherwise, Greenland and Åland wouldn't still be here."

"We need to make sure everyone is alright," Netherlands said. "We need to check in all the rooms, and search for all the hiding places. Those still alive would probably need treatment. And those that are dead…"

"Would need to receive the proper respect," Russia said.

…

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind it if you sent her to me," Canada said. "It might be just the therapy I need."

"We'll send Seborga and Hutt River with her," Poland said on the other side of the line. "They'd be more than capable of handling her now."

"Alright then. I guess I'll see them soon."

"And Matthew, I'm sorry about what happened with Gupta."

Canada swallowed thickly.

"Thank you," Canada whispered.

…

Vermont jumped when he heard the bedroom's door open. His hands were clasped against his mouth to prevent a sound from escaping.

They had no idea about what was going on. He had wanted to go and find the other states, but he didn't know where to look. He had gone to New Hampshire and Massachusetts, but neither of them were there, so he returned back to his own home. They weren't able to communicate with each other, so they couldn't make a plan of action.

But when he had seen intruders on his property… He couldn't recognise them, but he instinctively knew that they were enemies. And so he did the first thing he could think of: he hid.

The closet wasn't the most original place to hide, but he had grabbed the key and locked himself in from the inside. He also made sure to hide his key in his pocket. If anyone tried to open the door, they would find it locked. And if they peered through the keyhole they wouldn't see the key on the other side, thus alerting them that he was inside.

He just hoped that they wouldn't think to look further.

Fortunately, he was in the habit of locking his closets, so if they had gone to other rooms and found other locked closets or cabinets, they wouldn't think too much of this one being locked.

He just wondered how they managed to dodge all the bear traps and mouse traps he left at the front door, and how he hadn't heard any of them going off.

He heard them searching around, and wondered if they were searching for _him_ , or something else. He also wondered if they were part of Amodi, or his people becoming desperate. Desperate for money, desperate for food… having communications cut off with a war going on had been rough. They still had electricity, but without communication, it was useless. And no one could figure out a way to fix it.

The door rattled, and he tensed. Someone was trying to open the door. He kept still and quiet, holding his breath for good measure.

"Vermont, are you in here?"

Vermont frowned. It sounded like Puerto Rico, and he sounded worried. He _should_ be able to trust him, but…

Why didn't he call out to him sooner? He should have been able to hear it, even if he was locked in a closet.

Vermont kept quiet, his instincts screaming at him to do so. Finally Puerto Rico sighed.

"I know you're in there," Puerto Rico said, his voice cold. "If you don't come out, you'll only make it worse for yourself."

Vermont stayed quiet. He knew his instincts were right. Puerto Rico couldn't be trusted.

His eyes widened when he heard a familiar sound. Was that… a _chainsaw_?

…

America was fidgeting uncontrollably. The others were watching him, starting to get annoyed. However, they could see on his face that America wasn't just bored, or suffering from ADHD.

Many nations have actually considered having him tested for that, in fact.

No, he was restless because he could sense that something bad was happening. The others could only assume that it had something to do with his land.

Finally Thailand decided to approach America to find out what's happening.

"Is something wrong?" Thailand asked.

"You can say that," America said. "I decided to focus more on my states. Vermont is scared."

"Any idea what's happening?"

"Not really. But if it's those bastards…"

"I hate to say this," Jordan said. "But it most likely _is_."

America buried his hands in his hair, grabbing the strands. Finally he released it, looking furious.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll go tell our pilots to adjust course for Vermont," America said, standing from his seat.

The others watched him leave, before turning worried gazes on each other. They had _never_ heard America sound like that.

…

Jersey was pacing frantically, eyes on the ground. The others were watching her, not sure what to say.

After Antarctica had left, the General had managed to bring Vilnius and Transnistria to their location, but none of the others had arrived yet. Jersey was worried for the three missing Channel Islands.

"You're only stressing yourself out," Jethou said. "You're not going to do any good by being worked up."

"But what if they didn't make it?!" Jersey snapped. "What if the General was too late?"

"Either way, you're not helping anyone right now," Herm said. "Please, just sit down."

"He's right," Isle of Man said. "The others are still there as well."

"All we can do is wait," Cornwall said.

"That's right," Jersey said, falling on the seat behind her. She looked distressed. "All we _can_ do is wait."

The others all turned tense with those words. They realised that it _did_ hurt them to think of themselves like that. And they knew that there was nothing they could do.

…

"Please!" Vermont begged. "Please don't do this! Rico!"

As he had suspected, they had a chainsaw with them, which they used to destroy his closet's door. They then grabbed him when he tried to make a dash for it, only to tie him to the bedposts.

"Unfortunately, that is not an option," Puerto Rico said. "America did something that pissed off Liechtenstein. He took her lover away. So now, we're taking away the ones most important to America."

Vermont was trembling, and he turned his attention to Liechtenstein, who was casually holding the chainsaw. The way that such a petite girl could hold something like that with little difficulty… It was scary, to say the least.

"But w-why are _y-you_ doing this?" Vermont stuttered, turning his attention back to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico cocked his head to the side, and there was no sympathy in his eyes.

"You were just like all the others," Puerto Rico said. "You all treated me like I was a slave, while America treated me like some sort of _prize_."

"N-no," Vermont said. "I didn't…"

"Yes, you did," Puerto Rico said. "And now you'll finally pay for it. But since I had the pleasure of killing New York, Liechtenstein will be your executioner."

Vermont's eyes widened when he said that New York was dead, but his attention was quickly brought back to Liechtenstein, who started the chainsaw. He tried to struggle as she brought it towards his right shin, and he screamed as it started to cut away his flesh.

…

"So, what are we going to do now?" Wales asked.

"Return to base," Switzerland said. "The last thing we want to do is get in Israel's way."

"Perhaps we should have used magic to get here earlier," Wales sighed.

I don't think it would have helped," Belarus said. "The main reason why they managed to get away was because Egypt was killed, breaking the Bonds and making us weaker. Brazil knew this, so the moment he saw it, he would have used it to his advantage."

"How did he even sneak in?" Switzerland asked.

"I think I have an idea," Wales said drily. "After all, that creature came out of nowhere."

"You're right," Belarus said. "We should have figured that something was up. We were careless."

"Best not to mention _that_ to Italy," Switzerland said.

…

"Looks like we have to be careful," North Korea said, looking at South and Philippines. "They figured out a way to free the prisoners."

"Why do we need to be careful?" South asked. "Besides, it's not as though we have prisoners."

"It involves one of us dying."

The other two stared at him, eyes wide. Philippines then narrowed hers.

"So, we just need to make sure that we aren't killed," she said. "Do you think it's common knowledge?"

"It's how Brazil escaped," North said. "And Egypt was killed a while ago…"

"In other words, our enemies are aware of it," South said. "But what about the others?"

"I don't think so. After all, when would they get the chance to find out?"

"You have a point," Philippines said. "Looks like we have to kill them before they kill us."

…

"Why did you bring this to me?" Michoacán asked suspiciously, looking at the plate of food.

"Because Canada's going to ensure that you never eat again," Seborga said. "So this is a last meal. Consider this an act of mercy."

She wanted to refuse the food. But it looked absolutely delicious, and she knew that it would only be more torturous. Now that it had been brought to her, she couldn't _not_ eat it.

The growling of her stomach helped her make up her mind, and she took a bite as she observed the two micronations.

Somehow, they looked more mature, as though they had aged a year or two. They also stayed close together, informing her of the fact that these two were a couple.

She didn't know if it would be useful, but she filed the information away for later.

They didn't engage in small talk, merely watching her eat. She knew that they were waiting for her to finish, so she tried to take as long as possible.

…

"Alright, so Japan, Slovenia and Serbia are the only ones left alive," China said. "That means that they have plans for you."

"Would just like to know _what_ those plans are, though," Slovenia said.

While they had been searching for the others, they noticed a door which had the lock frozen. After breaking the ice, Slovenia and Serbia had been set free.

"If all goes well, you wouldn't have to find out," Norway said. "Also, Åland is alive, though barely. Antarctica was interrupted."

Russia smiled.

"I'm glad that I could help, he said.

The group jumped when an orb of light suddenly appeared in front of them. They got into position, waiting for another attack.

"Sorry we're late," Turkey's voice said. "We took a bit of a detour."

They all relaxed, seeing that it was their allies. And that they managed to find Greece. But they noticed that Syria and Hungary were missing.

When Turkey saw their faces, his smile fell.

"Did we miss something?" he asked.

 **One of my friends was actually diagnosed with ADHD and is on medication. I told her about my sister, and how we were** _ **seriously**_ **considering having her tested. The first time my friend and my sister met, my friend told me that it wouldn't be necessary to have my sister tested: she** _ **has**_ **ADHD. Her friend actually bought her a fidget cube, and another friend was complaining about the fact that she hadn't left it alone at all for almost 24 hours.**


	82. Chapter 81

**Thanks to shoujochan, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Terra, StuffyJinx, Kattie, Shattering Colors, Pink Tourmaline, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and topaz3 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 81**

China glared at Turkey.

"You can say you missed something," China said. "You have the most horrible sense of timing."

"Where are Hungary and Syria?" Singapore asked.

Turkey flinched, and they all lowered their heads. Faroe had moved away to join Greenland and Norway, quietly asking about Åland before he charged into Norway's room.

"During the battle we got slightly split up," Turkey said.

"Not _completely_ a split," Lebanon said. "We were in the doorway, Syria was in one room, Hungary in the other."

"Hungary said to go without her," Turkey said. "And we couldn't get Syria back."

Cyprus flinched, avoiding anyone's eyes. Greece still looked out of it.

"And what about Greece?" Russia asked. "Is he alright?"

"…Tired," Greece muttered.

"They kept him awake this whole time," Lebanon said. "He needs to sleep."

"Of course," Russia said. "But we will be relocating soon."

"What?" Turkey demanded. "Why?"

"We were attacked," China said. "Apparently, there's an Antarctica and Amodi has him on their side."

"Seriously?"

"He managed to kill many of our comrades," Russia said. "And he took one as well."

"Well… Why couldn't you stop him?"

"He fled using the same method Amodi used when the previous base in England was attacked."

Turkey sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Damn," he said. "So, where are we going?"

"For now, it would be best to go to St Petersburg," Russia said. "General Winter had evacuated some of the regions there."

"But we can't stay there forever," Netherlands said. "It's still unsafe."

"We could go to China's place," Norway said. "Amodi doesn't know where it is. They can't track us there."

"I feel like we do too much running," China sighed. "But we don't have much of a choice."

"It is unfortunate," Russia said. "I'll be going to the nearest town to see if I can find something that could accommodate all of us. Transportation-wise."

"Great," Lebanon said, slumping slightly. "We don't have to trek through another frozen wasteland."

"Once in one day is enough, thank you," Cyprus said. "I'll go help Greece find a room."

…

Canada looked up when smoke appeared in front of him. When it faded, Seborga and Hutt River were standing there with Michoacán between them.

"Thank you," Canada said, walking closer.

He noticed Michoacán drawing back slightly, and he was especially pleased to see the fear in her eyes.

"You shot Gupta that one time," Canada said. "Did _you_ give them the idea to kill him?"

Michoacán shook her head. Canada cocked his head to the side.

"Leave her," he said. "I'll take care of it from here."

The two former micronations shared a look before releasing her. Canada watched as they took out one of the teleportation orbs. They threw it to the ground before disappearing.

Michoacán was wildly looking around, searching for an escape route. Canada watched her, but he knew that it would be useless.

He sighed, before he removed a syringe.

"If you want to make things easier on yourself, I suggest you hold still," he said.

…

Cyprus had decided to take Greece to his room in order to get some sleep. Since they had to wait for Russia to come back, it couldn't hurt.

Just when he turned to leave, Greece's hand shot out, gripping his wrist. Cyprus winced, turning back to look at Greece. The grip was surprisingly strong.

Greece's eyes still looked dazed, but he was staring right at him.

"Is something wrong?" Cyprus asked.

"Yeah," Greece said. "How could you just leave Hungary and Syria there?"

Cyprus winced, avoiding his eyes.

"I wanted to save them, or at least Syria," Cyprus said. "But we… we needed to get out of there."

"And you left two allies alone," Greece said. "Because Turkey said to."

Cyprus bit his lip, before remembering that Greece was brainwashed. However, he had no idea how far the extent of the brainwashing was.

"H-hey, could you tell me what Egypt and Canada did to you?" Cyprus asked.

Greece frowned, looking as though thinking about it was a great effort.

"They made me listen to music," Greece said. "And a documentary."

"What kind of music?" Cyprus asked.

"Boring. It didn't even have words, and it was quite slow. I didn't even feel like I wanted to dance."

Cyprus chuckled, knowing that Greece and Turkey couldn't resist the urge to dance whenever they heard music. But still, what kind of music _didn't_ make them want to dance?

"I think you should get some sleep," Cyprus said. "You've been through a lot. We'll talk later."

As he left, he was sure he felt Greece's eyes trained on the back of his head.

…

"So, where exactly are we going?" Brazil asked.

"Northern Cape," White said. "I know someone that can help us. Or should be able to."

"We'll also need to get your states or provinces to safety," Vietnam said.

"That won't be a problem. My provinces aren't personified."

"They're not?" Taiwan asked in surprise.

"No. Most of the division in my country is racial instead of regional. And I'm curious as to how it would work. I used to have four provinces that became nine without me gaining new land."

"In other words, it wouldn't have worked," Brazil said.

"It was never meant to," White said. "When I was the Cape Colony and my people decided to start the Great Trek, I went with them. As a result, I became the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Black was still Zululand, though he extended to the entire Natal, and he took over the Cape Colony. There were other tribes, like Xhosa and Sotho, but Black and I turned out to be the strongest."

"What happened to them?" Taiwan asked.

"The same thing that happens to a nation without land."

They were silent as they absorbed the information.

"There _is_ one that remained," White said. "Neither Black nor I could stand the thought of losing him. We would actively go out of our way to ensure that he never fades. And whenever my bosses would order another policy to his disadvantage, I would personally go to apologise. It helps that his people never used to claim the land as their own. He stays with his people, and as long as he has people, it doesn't matter much about the land."

"Who is he?" Vietnam asked.

White smirked.

"You'll have to wait to find out," she said.

…

The regions all looked up when General Winter arrived. Jersey jumped up from her seat and was the first to stand in front of the General.

"Where are the others?" she demanded.

"Calm yourself," the General said. "The attack is over."

They all relaxed, some gaining smiles as their relief was felt. However, Jersey was still nervous.

"Are you going to take us back now?" Isle of Man asked.

The General shook his head.

"It has been decided that the previous base is no longer safe," he said. "The others are coming to this location before moving someone safer. Though it would take some time."

Jersey narrowed her eyes.

"Are there any casualties?" she demanded.

The General hesitated, and it almost looked as though he was uncomfortable under the glare of the shorter female.

"Da," he said. "There are some dead."

"Who?" she demanded.

"I do not know their names."

"What about Quebec?" Picardy asked. "He still looks a bit like skin and bones, in case you're wondering which one he is."

"I recall seeing him among the survivors, yes."

"And… what about the other regions?" Jersey asked. "Guernsey, Alderney and Brecqhou?"

"And Madeira and Catalonia," Gibraltar added.

The General shook his head.

"As I said, I do not know their names," he said. "You will have to wait until they come. In the meantime, I will stay here to protect you."

Jersey returned to her former seat and curled up, crossing both her arms and legs. They recognised the fact that she was worried, but they couldn't blame her. They were all worried for the others. And they knew that there was nothing that they could do.

…

"So where are we going now?" Liechtenstein asked as she climbed into the car.

Puerto Rico cocked his head to the side after slamming his own car door.

"I think we should continue east and then circle back," Puerto Rico said. "There are two more if you go east."

"Alright," Liechtenstein said. "But who's next?"

"New Hampshire."

"Then that's where we're going."

…

Chile was beyond annoyed. The other South Americans had finished with their attack on Central America and had moved on to Oceania. But Chile was still stuck searching for the new Haiti.

He had no idea what she looked like, or where he could search for her. Though if she was a successor, then that meant that she would have to be younger than the previous Haiti. Both in actuality and physically.

And therein lay a huge problem.

If the new Haiti was a child, then he would need to search for a child. A little girl. Chile, who resembled a man in his twenties would need to look for a little girl.

Not even his status as nation would be able to protect him.

He would be able to sense a nation as soon as he saw them, but that would involve hanging around, checking every little girl on the island. And eventually, it would earn a lot of suspicion.

Even if she was older, he would still have problems. The previous Haiti looked to be in his mid to late teens, which meant that he would _still_ have problems regarding the investigation of all the girls. And to call in his army would be a bit tricky at this point. He wasn't sure how much damage they would do, and it would take a while for them to arrive.

Of course, he _did_ report to Italy. That the previous Haiti had committed suicide, but that a replacement already existed. And Italy had told him that if the new Haiti resembled a child, he would have to capture her and take her back to base.

Chile knew what Italy and Poland wanted, and he was only upset that he wouldn't be able to have another victim.

And while the South Americans had no problem with cannibalism, they left those alone that they hadn't personally killed. They had no way of knowing how long they had been dead, and a fresh kill was most satisfying. So, Chile hadn't touched Haiti's corpse, and his bloodlust and bloodthirst was rearing its head.

He hoped he found the new Haiti soon, if just so that he could finally go join the rest on their rampage.

…

Iceland was lying on the couch, listlessly staring at the TV. Bulgaria and Moldova were nearby, in case Iceland needed their help.

The Nordic nation had sort of recovered from his musical torture session, but there was still a faint ringing in his ears, which only disappeared if there was some sort of noise to distract him. And he was still slightly dizzy from the torture.

Moldova and Bulgaria made a mental note to not do anything that would earn them that same torture.

Finland and Romania kept to themselves, which made the prisoners quite happy. They didn't want to have to deal with either of them.

Though they noticed that they had received a call earlier, but they didn't try to listen in. They wouldn't be able to understand it anyway. They spoke in some sort of combination of many different languages.

But they supposed that it didn't matter. There was nothing that they could do anyway.

…

"I think they've entered a new level of asshole," Belgium said, cradling her head.

She was in the kitchen with Portugal, Luxembourg, Indonesia and East Timor. All of them were stuck with hangovers after Romano's interrogation session.

"Well, it could be worse," Luxembourg said.

"My skull feels as though it's being split in two, I feel as though my stomach wants to expel all its contents, and when I open my eyes I swear I can see the earth moving," Belgium said. "How could it _possibly_ be worse?"

"He's right," Portugal said. "At least they didn't torture us for the information."

"How is this _not_ torture?"

"Do you remember the Inquisition? At least we can associate hangovers with something positive."

Belgium was silent for a moment before she shrugged.

"Fair enough," Belgium said. "It's easy to think that we have these hangovers because we were partying too hard."

"I don't think of this as a party," Timor said. "My stomach feels as though it's digesting itself."

"Not to mention the fact that they only wanted answers out of us," Indonesia said. "Not that any of us actually _knew_ something."

"Hopefully," Portugal said. "But it just goes to show that they're worried. A few hours ago, one of their members died."

"Do you think Brazil's connected?" Luxembourg asked.

"I don't know," Portugal said. "Part of me hopes he _is_ , just because I'd like to think that someone is fighting against Amodi. But another part of me hopes he _isn't_ , because I don't want them to be even angrier with him than they already are. I don't want him to get into any more trouble."

They all jumped when they heard a _bang,_ followed by them groaning in pain as they cradled their aching heads. Portugal looked towards the door with watery eyes, which widened upon seeing that Romano was standing there.

"So, you're hoping that someone fights against us?" Romano asked, his voice cold. "And how do you hope things will fare?"

"I-I j-just hope h-he isn't h-hurt," Portugal stuttered.

The others were afraid as well. Romano walked closer until he was standing in front of Portugal before he grabbed his wrist.

"Don't forget that you're bound to us," Romano hissed. "Anything _we_ endure, _you'll_ feel. So I suggest you don't hope that anyone's fighting against us. Because, while it wasn't willing, you were integrated into our ranks."

Portugal swallowed thickly, avoiding Romano's gaze. The Italian released his wrist before storming out of the kitchen.

"We need to avoid them for a while," Indonesia said. "We don't want them angry at us."

"Too late," Timor said.

…

Italy returned to the office, rubbing his eyes. Poland was working at the desk, but as though sensing Italy he looked up. A smile crossed his face when he saw Italy.

"Did you enjoy your rest?" Poland asked.

"I guess," Italy said. "Did something happen while I was out?"

Poland leaned back, running his hand through his hair. Italy narrowed his eyes.

"Antarctica returned," Poland said. "He managed to kill quite a few of them, but no one that he shouldn't have. He also captured Michoacán, who was taken to Canada as a cheering-up present."

"It would still be a poor compensation," Italy said. "If you were to be killed, I wouldn't be satisfied with less than the ones responsible."

"Apparently, the ones that _did_ directly kill Egypt were Hungary and Syria, and Canada already killed them. But Turkey, Lebanon and Cyprus would have to deal with a brainwashed Greece."

Italy smirked.

"Anything else?" Italy asked.

Poland nodded.

"Brazil had managed to leave with South Africa," Poland said. "Israel's furious, and not in his right mind. He's become obsessed with getting her back."

Italy winced.

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but I feel sorry for Brazil," Italy said. "After all, there's a reason why we thought that Israel would make a good ally."

"He was able to survive, in spite of having the majority of the world against him," Poland said. "And he knows how to get what he wants. But Israel managed to hear Brazil impart some useful information to South Africa."

"And that is?"

"How he managed to escape."

"What is it?"

"The prisoners are able to escape, should one of us die."

Italy pursed his lips together.

"So now, our enemies are going to try to kill us," Italy said. "We'll have to be smart about it."

"As long as our other prisoners don't learn of this, we should be fine," Poland said. "Now it begs the question of how Brazil found out about it."

"Looks like we still have to locate Brazil, albeit to answer a different question. So, what are we doing afterwards with him?"

"Ask Israel if _he_ wants him."

…

Michoacán woke up, feeling groggy. She took a few moments to work through the fog before she could examine her surroundings.

She was in the backseat of a car, with Canada in the front. She wasn't gagged, but she had her hands tied behind her back. She was also aware of a polar bear on the passenger seat.

"Awake," the bear said.

"I see," Canada said. "Had a nice nap, Michoacán?"

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded.

"You'll see."

…

Norway was eating chips while they waited for Russia to return. Until then, they had nothing else they _could_ do.

Japan had woken up, and China was treating him for hypothermia. At the moment, they couldn't work on the satellite schematics, but that didn't matter much. Japan had approved them, and all that Russia would need to do was take the schematics to his engineers, allowing the satellites to be built.

Norway had a small creature perched on his shoulder. He had seen the creature with Michoacán the previous day, and assumed that it was her pet. But without her around, the creature had seemingly adopted Norway. It was probably because Norway was the only one that could see him, though Greenland and Faroe looked as though he at least caught their eyes.

"Here," Norway said, handing a chip to the creature, who ate it greedily.

It was a shame that Norway didn't have access to his library, or perhaps the internet. He would have loved to figure out what kind of creature it was, and the only person that could tell him had been captured.

He would need to take a nap again later to see if he could figure out her location.

 **I keep forgetting about Michoacán's chupacabra.**

 **As mentioned way,** _ **way**_ **back near the beginning, South Africa's divisions are more racial than regional. And I have no idea of knowing how to create personifications for the provinces. Before the end of apartheid, there were four provinces (and a de facto fifth, but I'll explain that one later). The four provinces were the four territories: the Cape Colony, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal. And during the Anglo-Boer War, it was the British-controlled Cape and Natal against the two Boer Republics. And what really burned was the fact that the Boer Republics had been granted independence by Britain, saying that they would be left alone, but then came the discovery of diamonds, which led to the first war, and gold, which led to the second. Anyway, when the country unified in 1910, the four territories (including two former-independent nations) became provinces. And when the ANC took control, the four provinces became nine. Look at two maps, one from during apartheid and one from more recently, and tell me how that would work. Also, the former de facto fifth province is none other than Namibia.**

 **And the reason why White went with the Voortrekkers is because, frankly, they're the only subject of that particular period of history we learn about. The people of the Cape Colony is largely ignored until the Boer Wars come up. There was a scuffle with the Zulus during the Great Trek which ended in the Battle of Blood River. And the ANC are trying to convince people that the Voortrekkers attacked the poor, defenceless Zulu, ignoring the fact that all depictions of the wagons from that time show that they were in a defensive position, and that prior to that, the Zulus attacked the Voortrekkers, going so far as to hold babies by their ankles and slamming them against the wagon wheels. And that's** _ **after**_ **the leaders of the Voortrekkers decided that they wouldn't engage the Zulus, that they would sign a treaty before they crossed the Zulu's land to go beyond that, only to be betrayed during the peace treaty because the Zulu didn't want to follow through. Also, did I mention that the current president is Zulu? Interesting how the ANC started rewriting the history books after he became president.**

 **Also, if the previous paragraph makes me sound racist, my biggest problem is with Zuma (who, by the way, has the same laugh as Voldemort in the last movie). A few years ago I managed to befriend my neighbour, who is Zulu. And during the Anglo-Zulu war, they were responsible for the largest defeat of a 'civilised' army against an 'inferior' army. That's still pretty impressive.**

 **Anyway, last week the Cape of Storms lived up to its name again. Last I heard, nine people died. And right next to the storm, the Garden Route was attacked by a horrible fire. Most of the country decided to work together to help the people affected by the storms and fires, but there are the worthless pieces of trash – sorry, that's an insult to trash – that decided to hijack the trucks bringing supplies and looting what's left of the houses. And apparently there are Tweets saying things like 'It's a shame more white people didn't die'. People like that… they don't deserve to exist.**


	83. Chapter 82

**Thanks to Kattie, Elsa, Terra, Shattering Colors, ScandinavianTrash, Pink Tourmaline and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 82**

Russia killed the engine before slumping in his seat. He had managed to find a minibus, which he intended to use to get everyone to St Petersburg, and then he would transport them to the airport, after which they would go to China's place.

He had thought they were safe. This base was supposed to be the safest place in all of Russia, and potentially the whole world. But it wasn't safe enough. It was the place where they would have been able to make plans against Amodi. They would have been able to end their reign. And those who could not fight would find refuge there.

But their refuge had been turned into a death trap. He should have thought of adding an emergency exit, but he had been arrogant. And so many nations had paid the price. He knew that he was indirectly responsible for so many of them dying in less than an hour.

But he would protect them. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Steeling his resolve, he climbed out of the vehicle and made his way to the little shack that served as a cover for their base. He would take them to his house in St Petersburg, where they could recuperate, before going to China's base. If Norway was right, then Amodi wouldn't be able to find them there. They would be safe while they thought of a plan of attack.

…

"We really need to start getting Netherlands on board," Poland said.

"I don't think he'll do it willingly," Italy said. "It's a shame Antarctica didn't bring _him_ along."

"But we also still need to dispose of China."

"We'll let the Koreas settle that one. It would be nice to continue our attack against them."

"Perhaps we should launch another strike? After all, the world _is_ overpopulated."

"Are you suggesting going after the humans?"

"Among other things."

Italy was thoughtful for a moment, before he nodded.

"Having their people attacked would certainly have an effect on them," Italy said. "And I think it's time for the humans to feel the effects of war themselves."

"We'll just need to make sure we're not interfering with anyone's targets," Poland said.

…

"A minibus?" Netherlands asked.

"Da," Russia said, looking at the vehicle.

All of them were outside the shack, looking at the vehicle that Russia had acquired for them. They all glanced around at each other before going towards it one by one.

"I'm not so sure I like the idea of going on one of those," Netherlands said nervously.

"What's wrong with them?" China asked, annoyed.

"A certain former colony of mine."

China looked confused, before something clicked. He nodded his head, before going to climb in the minibus. Netherlands hesitated, but then Russia placed his hand on his shoulder, prompting the Dutchman to look towards him.

"You may sit in the passenger seat," Russia said. "Nations as tall as us aren't very comfortable in the back. And I _have_ to drive carefully."

Netherlands nodded his head, giving a small smile. He sighed before going to the passenger side.

As soon as everyone took their seats Russia started the minibus, and soon they were driving off. No one was in the mood for chatting. Not after everything that they had gone through, and especially considering the reason for the trip was because the place that they had thought was safe turned out not to be.

Netherlands, Russia and China were all wondering how things were in South Africa. Netherlands hoped that they had managed to save his former colony. Russia was worried for Ukraine, and China was worried about Taiwan and Vietnam. And unfortunately, none of them could get in touch with them, but they were all waiting for the right time to demand the answers from Norway.

…

White killed the engine, rolling down the window before handing the key to a young man.

"Full," she said.

She turned to Brazil, who was looking around at the gas station, before she turned to the back seat. Taiwan was asleep and using Vietnam's shoulder as a pillow. Vietnam looked around as well.

"This isn't a bad place," Vietnam said.

"Believe it or not, we actually have decent gas stations," White said. "As soon as the car is refuelled, we can refuel ourselves."

"So, lunch?" Brazil asked.

"Exactly."

Vietnam smirked, before she nudged her shoulder, waking Taiwan. After explaining that they would be having lunch, the younger nation was completely alert.

"Let's hope this place is decent," Vietnam said.

"Why don't you two go get us some seats?" White suggested. "I have to wait for them to finish here, and I need to speak to Brazil about something."

Brazil's eyes widened when he heard that, but the two Asians nodded, getting out of the car and heading towards the diner. White turned to Brazil.

"We need to talk about that kiss," she said.

Brazil blushed, averting his eyes.

"How long?" White asked.

"A-a few decades," Brazil said.

"And why didn't you say anything?"

"Because… Um…"

"Were you afraid of rejection?"

Brazil nodded.

"That's strange," White said. "Aren't you a womaniser? Since when are you afraid of rejection?"

"Since I actually really like you," Brazil said. "I was also worried about the politics involved."

"Robbie, we've had good relations for years."

"But things could change. And I didn't want a relationship that was bound by politics. And… I thought that you and Black had a relationship."

White snorted, but before she could answer there was a knock on the window. Brazil watched as she spoke with the young man, and White removed her money and paid the man.

"One thing I _love_ about Amodi," White said. "Prices are down. I haven't seen prices like these in ten years."

"I guess they're doing it to make sure that the nations and people stay compliant," Brazil said. "I haven't checked on my country yet."

"You escaped, right? Why didn't you check on your people?"

"Because… Romano and India told me about how they're using Stockholm Syndrome and other ways to bring you two together. I didn't want you to be forced in something like that."

White sighed, before starting the car and driving off, going towards a canopied area.

"A parking lot?" Brazil asked.

"For the people that come for the bathrooms, diner or shop," White said. "And about Black… At the most, we'd have been siblings. Quarrelling siblings that need to be separated for the sake of the household. Nothing romantic. Never."

Brazil chuckled, and White sighed.

"And after everything involving Da… I mean, Israel," she said. "I need more time, alright?"

"Of course," Brazil said, smiling in relief. "I'm just glad that you're not being _forced_ in a relationship."

"But what would they even hope to achieve by setting us up?"

"Portugal told us about it. They're using ancient magic that involves being in a relationship with someone, and everyone that helped get the nations together are bound by it as well. That's what the ribbons are. The more they have, the stronger they become. It also works if you hate someone, and someone offers you a way to get back at whoever you hate."

"I see. And how does Portugal know this?"

"Because Rome told all the other Latin nations about it."

"Would explain how Amodi learned of it, seeing as Italy's in charge," White sighed. "Come on. Vietnam and Taiwan are waiting for us."

…

North Korea was on his phone, casually leaning against a nearby wall. They had already landed a while back, and immediately started to gun down the humans of the Maldives. But when North received a call, he paused to speak to Poland.

"I don't mind too much if you attack any of the Asian nations," North said. "As long as you keep the person behind them alive. In fact, you'll be doing us a favour by thinning out the population."

"I see," Poland said. "Of course, you should probably inform Philippines and South. If they have a problem about the arrangements, they should let us know and we can put a stop to it. Don't want to step on any toes, after all."

North smirked.

"I'll pass on the message," North said.

"Enjoy your massacre," Poland said.

North chuckled, before hanging up the phone. He picked up his weapon before starting to fire at the civilians again.

…

"At the moment we're still recovering," Mexico said into the phone. "In case you're wondering, volcano gods are formidable opponents."

"I'll keep that in mind," Italy said dryly. "But is there someone you want us to leave alone?"

"Not in particular."

"Very well. We won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. So take your time with recovery. If you decide you're ready, give me a call and I'll see if I can give you something to do."

Mexico smirked. She actually liked being a part of Amodi. They didn't try to force them to do anything they didn't want to. Not like other alliances.

"Thank you," Mexico said. "We'll be sure to do that. Good luck on your front."

She hung up the phone before turning to Confederacy.

"They wanted to know if there's anyone we wanted to spare or pay particular attention to," Mexico said. "Looks like they want to do things the old-fashioned way."

"Well, there's the Yank," Confederacy said. "But Liechtenstein is kind of in control there now."

Mexico nodded her head, and her phone rang again. She quickly answered it.

"Si?" she prompted.

"We have them all," the man on the other side said.

Mexico smirked, before she turned to Confederacy.

"I'm on my way," she said, before hanging up. She then told Confederacy: "I'm going out for a while. Loose ends, you know?"

Confederacy waved her off, and Mexico quickly went to get dressed in something a little more decent before she left, wincing as the clothes brushed against her burns.

…

"We'll need to get in touch with America," China sighed.

"Probably," Russia said. "He would need to learn about the attack."

"Is it alright for us to leave the… the _corpses_ there?" Lebanon asked shakily.

"We can't carry them around with us," Russia sighed. "We can go back to arrange for a proper burial for them, once we find a place safe enough to bury them."

"And… will they be in good condition?" Catalonia asked.

"Nations take longer to decay than humans," China said. "It's due to our nature. A year later they look as though they've been dead for a weak. And it's cold here, so they would take longer."

"I turned off the heating before we left," Russia said. "And I locked up. They will be safe from anything."

"China, how do you know so much about it?" Singapore asked.

China smiled wryly.

"If you've been around as long as I have, you see many nations reach their end," he said.

…

Michoacán's eyes widened when the car came to a stop and the engine died. She saw Canada get out of the car and go to one of the backdoors, before opening it. She yelped as she was dragged out, but she quickly recovered to observe her surroundings.

They were outside a house which was isolated, just like she supposed the other one was. The place looked as though it wasn't often used. It wasn't in a state of disrepair, but it looked… cold, in the sense that no one lived there.

Canada dragged her up to the house, and he wordlessly dragged her deeper into the house. She noticed that it was slightly dusty, but not as much as she thought it would be.

He dragged her down to the basement, and her nose wrinkled in disgust as the stench assaulted her senses. She saw what appeared to be manacles at the far wall, and her stomach dropped when she realised that it was Quebec's former prison.

"No…" she whimpered, trying to pull away.

Canada wasn't fazed, and she realised how much strength they had. Not just influence, but physical strength as well.

"You already know what this place is," Canada said. "It was Quebec's former prison. Now, it's _yours_."

"This is taking it a little too far," Michoacán said. "He didn't even die when I shot him."

Canada turned to her, his face completely blank.

"Tell me, have you ever loved someone?" he asked. "And have you ever had to see that person being hurt? Knowing that someone hurt them? If you've ever loved someone, you would know that you'd be willing to do anything to repay the one that hurt them." He smirked. "Mexico told me about you. You never bothered to get close to the other states, and you have a little habit of using people to your advantage. Really, deep down, you're not too different from us."

"I'm _nothing_ like you," she spat.

"The significant thing you're lacking is status. You're a state, not a nation. You have limitations. More than nations do. But you were quite cruel when you were a kingdom, weren't you? And you were still a child for most of it."

She flinched, and Canada dragged her the rest of the way. He undid her bonds, only to secure the manacles around her wrists.

"As you probably know, you're not going anywhere," he said. "There's no window, and Kumajiro will be guarding the door."

"Did you have a guard for Quebec?" Michoacán snarled.

"Only the first year or so. Eventually he stopped screaming, and it sank into his head that he would never be able to escape me."

"But he _did_. Just not in the way you thought he would. And what did you do with the rest of your provinces?"

He smirked.

"You already know the answer to that question," Canada said. "We couldn't allow smaller representatives in our own territory, running such small landmasses. And we also had a need of guinea pigs."

Michoacán defiantly spat in his face, but Canada took it in stride. He turned and left, and Michoacán started working on the manacles, trying to get free, but they proved tight and sturdy. They were in impeccable condition, despite being used for several decades to keep someone prisoner. Did they perhaps replace them after they released Quebec?

…

Quebec was resting his head on Madeira's shoulder, eyes closed. He shuddered, and Madeira and Catalonia, who was on his other side, turned to him.

"Are you alright?" Madeira asked.

Quebec didn't answer, but after what could only be described as him snuggling closer, it became clear to both girls that he was completely asleep.

"Do you think he's having a nightmare?" Catalonia asked worriedly.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Slovenia said, who was sitting right behind them. "After everything he's been through."

"Yeah," Madeira said. "I mean… He was barely born before he was forced to become a prisoner by his own nation."

"And Canada wanted to do the same to Michoacán, right?" Catalonia said.

"At least he doesn't want to kill her."

"But there are fates worse than death," Slovenia pointed out, glancing towards Serbia.

"At least if he keeps her alive, we could still save her," Catalonia said. "As soon as we know where to find her."

"Do you think they'll take her to Quebec's former prison?" Slovenia asked.

"If they _do_ ," Singapore said, twisting in her seat in front of the regions, "then do you think there's a chance Quebec could lead us there?"

Madeira glanced towards Quebec before she shook her head.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Madeira said. "We don't know what that would do to his emotional state."

"And as you said before," Catalonia said, glancing towards Slovenia, "he's been through enough."

…

Israel glanced towards the ribbon on his hand. It might not have been mutual, but White was still bound to him. He still loved her.

And with the ribbon's help, he would be able to find her and make sure that she never left him again. And as for Brazil… Well, he would regret ever coming between them.

…

"As you know, I wish to dispose of Russia myself," Belarus said, speaking into the phone. "But I wouldn't mind if you destroyed his landscape. He has too much of it anyway."

Switzerland and Wales were silent as Belarus spoke to Poland. Belarus pulled the phone away from her ear, resting it against her shoulder as she turned to the other two.

"Poland wants to know if there's anyone you don't want them to attack," Belarus said.

"What do you mean?" Switzerland asked.

"They're going to start their own Blitzkrieg. Or something like that."

"Not really," Switzerland said, and Wales shook his head.

"They don't have anyone," Belarus said, speaking into the phone again. "Alright, I'll pass it on."

She ended the call before turning to Wales.

"Poland wants you to go back to your own land," she said.

Wales looked surprised, before nodding his head. Belarus then turned to Switzerland.

"Poland wants us to start looking around," she said. "In preparation for Operation Legacy."

Switzerland nodded his head, and Wales looked between the two of them.

"What's Operation Legacy?" he asked.

…

Mexico arrived at a military base, and the soldiers led her towards a holding cell. Inside, she could see all of her states, with the exception of Michoacán. In fact, after Michoacán had decided that she wanted to be independent, Mexico had ordered her soldiers to gather the other states.

They must have known that they had become fugitives, given the fact that it took so long to gather them all.

Mexico entered the cell, and the states all turned to her, looking afraid.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sonora asked.

Mexico smirked, before raising a revolver. The states shrank back, and she was pleased to see that they all had their hands tied behind their backs with their ankles restrained as well.

"I'm just tying up loose ends," she said. "You can thank Milessia for this."

And she pulled the trigger.

 **Mexico's unknowingly following the Amodi tradition of executing their states. And she had another revolver,** _ **and**_ **extra ammunition. I've been wanting to write that for a while.**

 **Milessia is Michoacán's human name.**

 **I also couldn't resist making a joke regarding the minibus taxis of South Africa. And yeah, they don't give a lot of legroom.**

 **From what I could tell through American media, a lot of the gas stations are self-help, and I don't have a reference pool for other countries. South African gas stations usually have people (petrol joggies) to refuel your tank, and they also wash the front window and check your tyres for you. You only pay for the fuel. And most gas stations in South Africa tend to be in excellent condition. Seriously, even in the bad part of town, the gas stations tend to be immaculate.**


	84. Chapter 83

**Thanks to StuffyJinx, Shattering Colors, Kattie, Pink Tourmaline, ScandinavianTrash, Toesz and SuperSwanky69 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 83**

"How long do we have to sit here?" America demanded, his foot tapping frantically.

"You shouldn't be so impatient," Jordan chastised. "I know you're worried, but you're not helping anyone by being impatient."

"You wouldn't want to make a rash decision," Pakistan added. "Not while we're in the middle of a war."

"We'll be there in a few hours," Thailand said, hoping to ease America's mind. "So please, just wait for a little while longer."

America sighed, nodding his head. Though his tapping persisted, the others couldn't complain. After all, it was understandable that America would be worried about his states. After all, he could _feel_ their pain, and knowing that they were being hurt and he was unable to help them probably drove him insane.

The rest could only imagine what America was feeling.

…

"Here we are," Russia announced, smiling as he turned to face the people in the back. "Welcome to my St Petersburg house."

"This would hopefully be a good place to recuperate," Japan said, before he shivered.

Japan was still recovering after being frozen by Antarctica. He was wearing three coats over each other, but he was still cold, with his lips even being a shade of blue. It had been made clear to everyone that Japan had been frozen from within, but Antarctica had somehow managed to ensure that it wouldn't be fatal, such as the cases of the ones that had died.

As though they needed another reason to be afraid of Antarctica. The control he needed to have in order to be able to do that to Japan… And he had done so quite casually.

Åland was still unconscious, nestled between Faroe and Greenland. His heart had actually stopped for a while, which concerned the others. If they hadn't gotten to him in time…

Of course, it had already been too late for the others. Even with magic, they wouldn't have been able to revive any of them.

"You are going into a hot bath," China said, looking at Japan.

"It might be a good idea to warm Åland up as well," Faroe said. "He's icy cold."

"At least he still has a pulse," Greenland sighed. "But I think it's safe to say that he's in a coma."

"A coma is still better than dead," Singapore pointed out.

"I vote we stop talking about this and get inside as soon as possible," Oman said.

"He has a point," Yemen said.

"Please tell me that you have enough beds," Turkey said.

"Sorry," Russia said sheepishly. "I only have five rooms, but at least the beds are big."

"We'll figure it out," Netherlands said. "But I think Japan and Åland should receive the most priority for beds."

"N-no," Japan said. "I'm…"

"I agree with him," China said, though he looked reluctant to admit it. "You're getting a bed, and the warmest blankets."

"Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia used to share one of these beds," Russia said wistfully. "I'm sure it's possible for China and Japan to share a bed, and perhaps one or two others. And Åland can share a bed with Norway and Faroe Islands, perhaps with someone else as well. So, even if there aren't enough blankets for everyone, you could at least share body heat."

"Why do I feel ignored?" Singapore asked.

"I know what you mean," Greenland said.

"Oh," Russia said. "I thought you girls wouldn't want to share a bed with them."

"So, you were just being courteous?" Lebanon asked. She paused for a moment. "I'm not complaining."

"Since you put it like that…" Greenland said, looking at Faroe.

"Come on," China said. "The sooner we're inside, the sooner we can help Japan and Åland recover."

"You go ahead," Russia said. "I have another errand to run. But make yourselves at home."

"What are you going to do?" Netherlands asked as the others started to file out of the vehicle.

"I'm going to deliver those schematics so that we can contact each other without problems."

Netherlands nodded his head, before he also got out. Russia sighed, waiting for everyone to get out and close the doors before he started the engine again.

…

Confederacy looked up when Mexico returned, before she closed her eyes again. Judging by the satisfied look on Mexico's face, she did what she wanted to do.

She knew for a while now that Mexico wanted to get rid of her states. She wanted to avoid an incident like the one with Michoacán. And now she had her wish. The only state that could still act as a wildcard was Michoacán. Unless, of course, Canada managed to get his hands on her.

Confederacy didn't really care about the fates of any of the states. The ones she used to have had betrayed her to America. She had no sympathy for them.

But Confederacy hated to think of him as 'America'. She was meant to be America as well. But she had lost that privilege when he had left her to die, stripping her of _everything_ she used to be. Including her name.

Mexico cleared her throat, and Confederacy opened her eyes to see the other standing there with two glasses of colourful liquid.

"You look upset," Mexico said.

"Do I?" Confederacy asked, taking the glass offered to her.

"You don't hide your emotions well. I can always tell when you're upset. Especially when you're thinking of the gringo."

Confederacy felt the corner of her mouth twitch. Mexico _never_ referred to him as 'America'. It was partly because she didn't respect him enough to do so, but also because she knew that it upset Confederacy.

"It's nothing," Confederacy said. "My thoughts were wandering and stumbled upon some unsavoury territory."

Mexico smiled sympathetically.

"I hate it when that happens," she said, taking a seat on the couch next to Confederacy and wincing. "Damn, that Pele really did a number on us."

"No kidding," Confederacy said. "It's not often a nation takes this long to heal."

"I vote we stay away from any volcanic islands."

"Agreed."

…

The group waiting inside Russia's house immediately looked to the door when they heard it being opened. For a moment they were afraid that it was another attack from Amodi, but upon seeing their allies they all relaxed.

"You're here!" Isle of Man said, looking relieved.

"Uh oh," Turkey said. "Sleeping arrangements have become even more difficult."

Greece shot Turkey a glare, but it was clear that he was still too tired to really pick a fight with him, and Turkey noticed the glare, but didn't comment, knowing that Greece would need some time to recover.

"Who cares about sleeping arrangements?" Jersey snapped. "Where are the others?"

"Others?" China questioned.

"Brecqhou, Alderney and Guernsey," Jersey clarified. "Where are they?"

The nations looked nervously at each other, and Jersey's eyes widened.

"No," she whispered.

Kazakhstan walked over towards the island nation, wrapping her in a hug.

"We all lost someone today," Kazakhstan said. "Tajikistan, Pakistan and I are the only ones of our group to still be alive."

"And Pakistan wasn't even there," Tajikistan said.

"Azerbaijan and Armenia are also dead," Georgia said.

"And Syria and Hungary are also dead," Turkey announced.

"This is just one bad day," China said.

Jersey looked around at all of them.

"And… where are they now?" Jersey asked.

"We left their… their bodies at the base," Netherlands said. "They'll be safer there."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I doubt Amodi will go after corpses," China said. "Come on. We need to wait for Russia before we can discuss our next plan of action."

"Do their deaths mean _nothing_ to you?!" Jersey snapped.

Everyone looked towards the island, and Slovenia was the one to approach her next.

"There's nothing we can do," Slovenia said. "Believe me. Serbia is the only one left of my family, and he… he's currently suffering a fate worse than death. But we don't have time to mourn right now. We need to get to safety, before even more of us die. And then we can plan on how we're going to return the favour to Amodi."

"If it helps," Lebanon said, "we managed to kill Egypt. At least three of them are dead now."

"Three?" Jersey repeated. "And how many more will die before this war is over? How many more of us will die, and how many of _them_ will die?"

The nations were quiet. They knew that there wasn't a satisfactory answer that they could give her. Jersey bit her lips, and the other remaining Channel Islands came closer to wrap her in a comforting embrace.

…

"Are you bored?" Romania asked.

He and Finland were currently cuddling on their bed. Just as their prisoners tended to avoid them, they avoided their prisoners. It was purely for the sake of peace in the house.

"A little," Finland said. "We don't really get that many opportunities to let our bloodthirsty sides out to play. Though cuddling is also nice. It feels like we're recovering lost time, you know?"

Romania smiled.

"It seems so," he said.

Their moment was ruined by Romania's phone. The Eastern European cursed before he answered it.

"We were in the middle of something," Romania snapped.

"Whatever," Poland said. "Listen, I have something I want you to do."

"And what's that?" Romania groaned.

"It involves magic."

"Get to the point."

Poland _did_ , and Romania chuckled.

"You're really pulling out all the stops, aren't you?" Romania asked. "Fine. I'll be happy to assist you with that."

"Great," Poland said. "I trust you'll know when to strike?"

"Of course."

Romania hung up before turning to Finland.

"I take it you have a mission?" Finland asked.

"Da," Romania said. "It doesn't involve leaving your side. But it would be a lot of fun."

"What do you mean?"

…

Papua New Guinea trembled with his hands shielding his head, feeling the tremors shake his house, and hearing the screams of the people outside. He could also feel his people dying.

He was aware of the war going on, but he thought that he would be safe. His country was a natural fortress. They wouldn't come looking for him.

But he didn't think that they would decide to bomb him.

They were dropping those bombs indiscriminately, and he had no idea where the attacks were coming from, and no way to defend against them. And his people…

He screamed. A forest had caught fire, most likely from one of the bombs. He sobbed as his body was dominated by pain. He just wished that it could end. But unfortunately, it wouldn't be easy.

He was a nation. He would be revived if he died, should a bomb be dropped on his house, for example. But he would still feel the pain. The only way for it to be completely over was if they completely destroyed his country. And something told him that it was most likely what was happening.

…

Indonesia was pacing frantically. He had the feeling that something bad was happening. Something _really_ bad.

He jumped when the door opened, and he spun around to see India standing there, looking amused.

"I just received word," India said. "Looks like you'll be able to expand your borders."

"W-what do you mean?" Indonesia demanded.

"Well, Italy said that they've started to launch an attack on your neighbour. And since you're our territory now and we control your military, we're using _your_ resources to accomplish that."

"What?" Indonesia whispered, horrified.

"Of course, we also planted some of our own military forces there. We helped provide the bombs that _your_ soldiers are now dropping on Papua New Guinea."

"No!" Indonesia shouted. "Why… Why would you…?"

India walked closer, a smirk on his face. Indonesia took a nervous step back, before India grabbed onto his chin.

"Because this is war," India said. "You're our territory now, which means you and your people do what we tell you to do. Including attack another nation. And you should be happy. You'll get extra land. Well, what's left of it anyway."

India released his grip on his chin before walking away, and Indonesia collapsed against his bed. He was trembling horribly, and when Timor arrived the other was immediately next to him, looking concerned.

"I saw India leaving your room and I got worried," Timor said. "What did he do to you? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Indonesia shook his head, though his brother was still worried.

"He… He told me that they were attacking Papua," Indonesia said. "And that… they're using _my_ resources to do so."

East Timor's eyes widened, and he immediately wrapped Indonesia into a hug. Indonesia was grateful, since it allowed him to find strength through his trembling. And eventually, the comforting gesture helped him relax and his trembling ceased.

"Those bastards," Timor whispered. "How could they do something like that?"

"It's war," Indonesia said. "It's only the methods that changed. But the strategies are the same."

…

Russia had a relieved smile on his face when he drove back to the house. His engineers would get to work immediately to try and solve the communication issue. They finally had something to work with.

They had clearly been trying – and failing – to find a solution themselves. But when they saw the schematics that Russia had made, they were all in agreement that this was a plan that could work.

He shuddered, feeling the temperature dropped, and he turned his attention to the passenger seat, where General Winter had just arrived.

"Privet," Russia greeted. "How can I help you?"

"You want to hear what the others are doing, don't you?" the General asked. "You also want to spread the message of what happened."

"Da," Russia said, his smile falling. "It's important that we stay in contact with each other. And for now, you're the only way we can."

"I understand. Just tell me what I have to say."

"…You might want to write this down."

…

As soon as their plane landed, America was already outside, running to the nearest place where they could rent a car. The others were forced to run to keep up with him.

America managed to get a car, and the other three were forced to cling to their seats and doors while America broke all of his traffic laws. At least there wasn't any traffic.

"Slow down," Jordan said. "Do you want to kill us all?"

"Technically, we wouldn't die from a car accident," Thailand said. "Not permanently."

"You're missing the point!"

It seemed like forever for the three passengers before America finally arrived at a house. He forced the car into an abrupt stop before leaping out. The others sighed in relief before they followed after America at a slower pace.

Jordan winced when she heard the front door being broken down, and she shared a nervous look with the others. With some hesitation, they followed after America.

It wasn't too hard to find him. They just followed the sound of a scream. They arrived at a bedroom and were frozen in horror by the sight that greeted them.

There was what appeared to be a teenager lying on the bed, but it was more than obvious that he was dead. His wrists and ankles were bound to the bedposts, though his limbs appeared to be severed in several places. Each. His head was also severed from his body, and there was a gaping hole where his heart used to be. And next to the bed, the chainsaw responsible for most of the damage.

Thailand placed his hand before his mouth before running off. He didn't go far before the contents of his stomach decided to escape.

"Those bastards," America said. "Those… How? Why? _Who_?"

"You already know who," Pakistan said, trying to avoid looking at the gruesome sight.

"I want to know who _specifically_ ," America said. "Was it Canada? Mexico? Italy? Belarus? _Who_?"

Jordan and Pakistan exchanged a look.

"Is there a way to tell which way they're going?" Jordan asked.

America was silent before he nodded.

"I don't know who they are," America said. "But it looks like they're on their way to New Hampshire."

"Then that's where we need to go," Pakistan said.

…

The South African group had stopped in Kimberley, booking into a guesthouse. It was already evening, and White suggested that it was better to go during the day.

"You still won't tell us who we're going to see," Brazil said.

"I want to keep it as a surprise," White said, smiling brightly.

"It doesn't matter," Vietnam said. "As long as he manages to help us out."

Taiwan was sitting cross-legged on one of the beds, eating her dinner. They had stopped by a place called 'Mini Pakistan' (something they were going to tell the actual Pakistan eventually) for some fast food.

White jumped in surprise when someone suddenly appeared in the room. Brazil was used to Adamastor, and Vietnam and Taiwan were fairly used to General Winter by now.

"General Winter," Vietnam greeted. "I thought you wanted a break?"

"Something has happened," General Winter said.

"Could _someone_ please tell me what's going on?!" White demanded in surprise.

"This is General Winter," Vietnam said. "He's basically Russia's winter."

"A nature spirit," Brazil said. "He's like Adamastor."

"Who?" White asked.

"Your storms."

"What?"

"Perhaps we should get back on topic," Vietnam said. "So, what happened, General?"

"The base was attacked by an ally of Amodi," General Winter said. "Antarctica."

"Wat?" White asked. "I never saw an Antarctica."

"Me neither," Brazil said.

"Well, he exists," the General said. "And he attacked the base. None of us were a match for him. Not even me."

"W-wait," Taiwan said. "Did… Are the others…?"

"Some of them have died," the General sighed. "But there are those he kept alive. Those that Amodi wishes to deal with personally."

" _That_ doesn't sound good," White said.

"Do you know who the casualties are?" Vietnam asked.

The General told them, reading from a piece of paper. The others paled when they heard how many were dead, but in the end Taiwan sighed in relief.

"At least China and Japan are alright," she said.

"They are among the ones Antarctica _left_ alone," the General said.

"Which means they're personal targets of Amodi," Vietnam said. "We also have a message you may want to convey to Russia. Ukraine has been killed by Belarus."

 **I googled restaurants in Kimberley (mostly to see if they have a McDonalds or a KFC) when one of the results revealed 'Mini Pakistan Fast Food and Restaurant'. The temptation to add it was too great.**

 **Seven nations have formal territories in Antarctica, with five more showing interest. According to Wikipedia, Brazil has a designated zone of interest that's not quite a claim, while South Africa has formally reserved the right to make a claim. There was actually a prompt on the Kink Meme that suggested that, since Antarctica kind of belongs to 12 nations, he spend one month with each of them. There's also a Polandball comic where a bunch of nations are fighting over Antarctica's land, and South Africa's just chilling in his little corner of the continent, telling the others to grow up.**

 **Kazakhstan was referring to the other nations whose names end in -stan. Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are all dead.**

 **I read once or twice that Papua New Guinea is considered a natural fortress. It has its own entry on TV Tropes for the trope 'death world'. Australia has its own** _ **section**_ **.**

 **Adamastor was created by the Portuguese, and appears in poetry referring to the Cape. But still, Europeans appear to be more familiar with Adamastor than South Africans are.**


	85. Chapter 84

**Thanks to Terra, Shattering Colors, Kattie, StuffyJinx, SeaJam03, Pink Tourmaline, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **So an anon asked me to give a list of the different nations and where they stand in this war. I've decided to add a guide on my profile. It's still a work in progress, and I've only managed to add the Amodi nations, though it's possible I might have missed one or two. Anyway, it should be complete by the end of the week.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 84**

America stormed out of Vermont's house, an aura of rage surrounding him. The others hung back, General Winter next to them.

The General had arrived and explained the situation of what had happened in Russia. And America was _furious_. More allies had been killed, Michoacán had been captured and Amodi had gained another advantage. And after seeing Vermont's body, it really started to have a toll on America.

The others wanted to join him. Pakistan had been devastated to learn of Afghanistan's death, and Thailand was afraid for the other Asians. But America's eyes made them feel fear for him as well. Instead of blue, they had turned _red_.

Something was _seriously_ wrong with America, and they weren't sure whether or not it would be a danger to them.

It was with some reluctance and hesitation that they made their way to the car, where America was waiting impatiently. It was clear that he wanted to get his hands on the Amodi nations killing his states, if only to have something to take his anger out on.

…

Puerto Rico shuddered.

"I think America's returned to his land," Puerto Rico said.

"And?" Liechtenstein asked.

"He's pissed."

"Good. Now he knows how _I_ feel."

"I hope you realise that America is a force to be reckoned with when angered."

"And I hope _you_ realise that despite my small size, I'm no pushover."

"Don't worry. I noticed."

…

"America's back," the girl said.

"About time," the boy said. "Let's hope he can keep anyone else from dying."

"Do you have any idea where they're going?"

"They look like they're on their way to Hamp."

"That's good. He's not there. He went to Maine, right?"

"Yeah. The two decided that it would be safer to stick together."

"Just like us."

"At least we can monitor everyone."

"But we're still trying to figure out a way to help."

"And I think we need to hurry. New York, Texas, Nevada, Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii… And how many nations have died in this war?"

"Let's just hope Alfred manages to make our lands safe again."

"If he doesn't get himself killed."

…

"No! Stop! Please!"

North, South and Philippines were smirking down at a quivering Maldives. It had taken them a while to find him, but they finally did.

"Stop _what_ , exactly?" Philippines taunted.

"Stop… stop what you're doing," Maldives said. "P-please."

"And if we _don't_?" North asked. "What would you do to us?"

"Nothing," South said. "There's nothing he _can_ do."

"What a-are you g-going to d-do to m-me?" Maldives asked.

North removed a handgun, pointing it at Maldives's head. The latter took a sharp breath, his fear building.

"We're going to kill you now," North said. "And then we'll finish killing all your people."

North pulled the trigger, and as the gunshot echoed like thunder, Maldives's limp body fell to the ground.

"Aw," Philippines said. "I wanted to torture him a little more."

"The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can move on to other targets," South said. "Namely China and Japan."

Philippines grinned.

"I can live with that," she said.

…

"I hate mornings," Singapore grumbled.

It was the morning after the attack and relocation, and a lot of the nations were still tired. It wasn't helped by the fact that sleeping arrangements had been difficult at best. Which meant that most of them were in less than a stellar mood.

"What's on the agenda?" Kuwait asked.

"We go to my place," China said. "It would require going back to basics, but we should be safe there."

"And if Amodi finds us?" Yemen asked.

"We try our hardest to survive."

"That doesn't sound very positive," Turkey said. "By the way, has anyone seen Russia?"

…

Russia was sitting on his bed, his head buried in his hands. General Winter had just told him the news from the South African group.

Ukraine – his _sister_ – had been killed. By Belarus, his _other_ sister. Belarus had truly crossed the line. That she had killed the one that raised her so ruthlessly…

The General had repeated what Vietnam and Taiwan had said. That before killing her, she had been tortured with Belarus's knife, and when they tried to get her to safety, she had been shot in the heart from behind.

He felt immense grief for his older sister, and unfathomable rage for his younger sister. In fact, he didn't dare regard her as his sister anymore. She was an enemy. A _monster_ that needed to be defeated.

He wondered if she would still be in South Africa, before he dismissed the thought. He wouldn't want to do anything that would potentially hurt an ally. He couldn't search for her. Not without ultimately doing damage to the country he was searching for her in.

No, he would need to try another way.

"Be careful," the General said. "I know you want revenge. But if you do so blindly, you would only bring about your own downfall. Along with your comrades."

"Da, I understand," Russia said. "I will find a way. But Katyusha… She will be avenged."

"I'm not saying _not_ to avenge her. Just be smart about it."

"…Thank you."

"I wish to see Amodi pay for their crimes as well. And for bringing you so much pain."

Russia smiled. General Winter might have been harsh, but he still cared for him. In his own way. And Russia felt immensely grateful. They would show Amodi why it was a bad idea to mess with them.

When he looked into the mirror, he saw that his eyes were red. He knew it to be the result of his rage and hatred being directed at the enemy.

It only happened with the strongest nations, which reassured Russia. It meant that he was still capable of posing a threat to Amodi.

…

Canada had a world map open in front of him. He was trying to think of a strategy.

He had already killed Hungary and Syria, the two that were directly responsible for Egypt's death. But there was still Faroe Islands, Lebanon, Cyprus and Turkey to think about.

And while it would be satisfying to allow a brainwashed Greece to kill them, he wouldn't be able to watch, and there was always a possibility that they could snap him out of it, or help him recover in time.

And he would need to monitor the news to see what happened.

He wondered if a revenge by proxy could work. It would also allow him to continue Egypt's plan to destroy the Arab nations.

Italy had called to ask if there was someone he didn't want them to attack. He would just need to guide their attentions to the Middle Eastern nations, though he would have to remember not to put Israel in the line of fire.

…Maybe he could get Israel to help him?

It was an idea, but he would need to help it shape into a plan. He also needed to remind their enemy that he was not a force to be reckoned with.

He was still consumed by grief. But once the grief had settled slightly, he would truly become bloodthirsty.

The red eyes when he glanced into a mirror were evidence enough of that.

…

"Looks like everyone is still tired," Slovenia observed.

Russia looked over the sleeping nations and nodded.

He had waited until his anger had cooled down and his eyes were no longer red. No need to scare the others. He then took them all to the airport (he had to make two trips, since even the minibus proved to be too small after all of the little ones had joined up again), and as soon as the plane took off, practically everyone fell asleep.

China was acting as the pilot, since he actually _knew_ where the place was. He had also suggested not to land the plane in an airport, but a plateau that was nearby.

…As far as he knew, Russia was the only one that knew that little fact, and since it had bothered _him_ , he didn't want to share that piece of information with any of the others.

"Well, we didn't exactly have the best rest," Netherlands said, rolling his shoulders.

Russia chuckled, but then everyone who was awake had their attention directed to Serbia. With Slovenia's guidance he had gone to sleep, and it was a whimper that had directed their attention to him.

Slovenia frowned, before he headed to Serbia's seat. He stroked the other's sweat-slicked hair, concern welling up inside him.

"Do you think he's healing from the lobotomy?" Slovenia asked.

"It's a strong possibility," Netherlands said.

"But that could present its own problems," Russia added.

"W-what problems?" Slovenia asked nervously.

"He's a very empathetic person, da?" Russia said. "Which means everything would come to him at once."

Slovenia swallowed nervously, before he looked back at Serbia.

"So, that's what Antarctica meant," Slovenia said. "He left him alive… because healing from the lobotomy would be its own form of torture. And he left _me_ alive… Because seeing Serbia like that… would hurt _me_ as well."

"As though the both of you haven't suffered enough…" Netherlands muttered. "I want to know what they're doing to Portugal and my siblings. I want to know what they're doing to my old colonies."

"It's a shame we can't find out," Russia said, smile on his face.

There was a groan, and this time they all turned their attentions to Norway, who had just woken up. Netherlands approached him.

"I want to know what they're doing to Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg and my old colonies," Netherlands said.

Norway looked annoyed for a moment before he sighed.

"They're all fine," Norway said. "All of them are being kept at Romano's house in Sicily. They're recovering from hangovers, though it's mostly gone now."

"Hangovers?" Netherlands asked in confusion.

"They wanted to know if any of them knew anything about how Brazil escaped."

Remembering what Norway had said before of their methods of interrogation, Netherlands sighed in relief.

"I guess I should be thankful that they've resorted to _that_ method of interrogation," Netherlands said.

"It actually _is_ quite clever," Russia mused. "After all, one's filter doesn't work as well if you're drunk."

"Tell me about it," Slovenia said, grinning. "Bulgaria couldn't handle his liquor so well. But… I noticed that Romania actually has a high tolerance."

"It would make sense," Netherlands said. "Seeing as that's how they interrogate their enemies. They would build a resistance so that they wouldn't fall for the same tactic."

"They also wouldn't want to reveal too much if they accidentally became drunk while still wearing their masks," Russia pointed out.

Slovenia looked thoughtful before he nodded his head.

"Makes sense," he said.

"If I remember all the things Denmark has said while drunk…" Norway mused. "They would have to know how it works. Sometimes the things that come out of other people's mouths aren't truth, but what could be _considered_ truth in an altered mental state."

"I think they might have figured out how drunk you'd have to be to be completely honest," Netherlands said. "But even an altered truth is some form of truth."

"If it was an interrogation," Russia said, "then they _would_ go for a _personal_ truth."

Norway shrugged, before he yawned.

"Now, if you don't need anything else, I'm going back to sleep," he said.

…

"Do we really need Vilnius and Transnistria?" Poland asked.

Italy shrugged.

"They're child-like regions," Italy said.

"But would they be useful?" Poland asked. "After all, Transnistria is a small territory, and Moldova is the one in charge there. Moldova, who _also_ happens to be a child."

"Romania wouldn't forgive us if we do anything to Moldova," Italy pointed out. "But you're right. At the very least, Transnistria is unnecessary. And as for Vilnius… We'll see."

…

Greece awoke with a start, before he pressed his hands to his ears. He could hear so many voices… telling him to…

He looked around him, seeing all of the sleeping nations, as well as the ones that were awake. He could… he couldn't…

Greece shook his head, eyes clenched shut. What was wrong with him?

…

"Hey America, I've been meaning to ask you something," Thailand said. "Why are _all_ your states personified?"

America glanced towards him before he sighed.

"Federal system," America explained. "Each state is governed a different way, and the people are also vastly different. And some – actually, _most_ of them – were nations in their own rights. Imagine what it would be like to have fifty states with different mindsets, and you have to be the one to manage all of them in your mind. Plus, it's a _lot_ of work."

"And we've discovered the true reason…" Pakistan muttered.

"They're like my brothers and sisters," America explained. "And the fact that they're being hurt like this… It really pisses me off, you know?"

"I understand," Jordan said. "But please, don't do something we'd all end up regretting."

…

"So, where exactly are we going?" Vietnam asked.

"We're almost there," White said dismissively.

"I'm not even sure this _is_ a road."

"Well… You're not wrong."

They were silent for a while as they watched the scenery go by. Not that there was much scenery. One of the more boring places in South Africa.

"Is that it?" Brazil asked.

They could see what looked like huts in the distance, though they were flimsy at best. Vietnam looked at those huts before turning her attention to White.

"That looks like all the African stereotypes that make everyone on your continent go berserk when someone just suggests them," Vietnam said with a smirk.

"Shut it," White said, and indeed, she seemed to be quite annoyed. "We sometimes try to hold onto our pasts."

As she drew nearer, they could see that it was a village of sorts, but it didn't look as though the people received much attention. They looked skinny, and they didn't really have a lot of clothes on.

Brazil gulped, turning his attention away from a woman. White noticed their discomfort and sighed.

"This is a settlement of the remaining Khoisan people," she said. "They prefer to be traditional."

She parked and turned off the vehicle before climbing out. The others hesitantly followed. All of the people looked in their direction. Some of them were staring at Vietnam, Taiwan and Brazil, and some nodded to White before they returned to whatever it was they were doing.

"I'd like to speak to Khuma," White said.

All attention was on her again, and one of the elders pointed towards a hut. White smiled, saying something that the others couldn't distinguish before heading towards the place indicated.

Inside they found a man who looked to be in his fifties. Possibly his early sixties. When he saw White he smiled.

"Anika, it's been too long," he said. "And I see you've brought guests. But tell me, where's Themba?"

White flinched, before averting her eyes.

"He was killed," she said. "Executed. In front of me. His blood was spilt _on_ me. There's another war."

The older man sighed, shaking his head.

"What is it with you and wars?" he asked.

"They had planned it for a _very_ long time," Vietnam said. "Nations are being massacred, if not captured. And it's more than just a massacre. They like to torture their enemies – _us_ – before killing them."

The man stared at Vietnam for a moment before turning to White.

"I take it you want my guidance?" he asked White.

"That would be appreciated, dankie," White said, smiling sheepishly.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Brazil said, looking towards the older male. "But… who _are_ you?"

The man turned to White.

"You didn't tell them?" he asked.

"I wanted to keep it as a surprise," she said. "More of an impact, you know?"

The man nodded, chuckling.

"You're as mischievous as you are manipulative," he said.

"May I present to you the personification of the San and Khoi people?" White said with a grin. "The _oldest_ of all of us. In fact, I think it's only the continents themselves that are older than him."

The others' jaws dropped as Khoisan chuckled.

…

Belarus had arrived at the former land of Estonia. She was searching for something.

It was imperative that they found what they were looking for. It would make their goals a lot easier. And it would ensure that the humans were properly controlled. Not to mention that it would be proof that they had changed the ways of the world. They wanted to see that at all costs.

She heard a rustle behind her and spun around. She heard a gasp, and she could see a small figure move away slightly. She reached out and placed a smile on her face, intending to look less threatening.

"Come out, little one," she said. "I won't harm you."

It was silent for a moment before a small figure came out of the bushes. Belarus had made the right choice to look for the little one away from human towns.

It looked to be a young girl. If she had to guess, she was physically around three or four. She had short, mousy brown hair and teary looking violet eyes. She also wore a pair of glasses. Belarus knew _exactly_ who this was, or at least what she was supposed to be.

"You're like me," Belarus said. "A nation."

"H-how…?" the girl squeaked.

"When you're older, you can usually tell if someone's a nation. But one such as you… It's not a good idea to wander on your own. You could simply… _fade_ out of existence."

The girl trembled, and it wasn't hard to see that she was indeed what Belarus had been searching for.

"We always stay close to a family member," Belarus said. "They help us grow up."

"But… I don't have one," the girl said.

"Then you're adopted by someone like me. In fact, I know a very nice nation that could help you grow up."

"Really?"

"That's right."

Belarus extended her hand, and the girl hesitated before she took it.

"What is your name, little one?" Belarus asked.

"B-Baltia," she said.

Belarus nodded her head. She had found the personification of the merged Baltic nations.

 **Baltia is the result of Amodi's administration merging the three Baltic nations together, creating a new personification. Hair like Lithuania, eyes like Latvia and glasses like Estonia. She has no idea that Belarus is responsible for killing 2/3 of her predecessors, with Estonia killed by Finland.**

 **I've seen a lot of state fics where they're treated as America's kids. But in canon, we see Japan's feudal domains, with Osaka stated to act as Japan's interpreter/secretary, and France has Picardy, who doesn't exactly look as though he could be France's kid. So, I figured that they'd be more like siblings than kids to the nations, with the nation as the oldest sibling. Vilnius is also stated to be Lithuania's sister.**

 **The Khoisan still exist in the Northern Cape and in Namibia. They remain isolated, though. And I'll admit to not know that much about the modern Khoisan, but I've seen pictures and documentaries. Long ago in the latter case. And the Northern Cape has the Karoo, which is a semi-desert, and also makes up part of the Kalahari Desert. So it can be a little boring, at least for me.**

 **Anyway, the San are considered to be the oldest people in the world, dating back about 40 000 years. The San were nomadic hunters and gatherers, and White made a reference to the fact that they never claimed the land, which meant that the personification wasn't bound by borders. The Khoi-Khoi were San that started to keep livestock, and they were a bit more secure in their land areas. They started appearing around 3 000 years ago. At some point, the San and Khoi-Khoi became one group, becoming the Khoisan. If anyone could be considered indigenous to South Africa, it's** _ **them**_ **. Zulus, Xhosas and the other tribes… Bantu migrations that happened about 1 000 years ago.**


	86. Chapter 85

**Thanks to CheescakeKittyCat, StuffyJinx, Terra, Pink Tourmaline, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Shattering Colors and teabrows for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 85**

"So, wait a minute," Brazil said. "He's one of _us_?"

"I suppose you could say that," Khoisan said wistfully.

"But… Why haven't we heard of you before?" Vietnam asked.

"You've heard of my people, haven't you?"

"Portugal was rather fond of bringing it up, though," Brazil mused. "He didn't like you very much."

"Hey, it was his own stupidity."

" _Anyway_ ," White said, interrupting them. "We need your help."

"You said so," Khoisan said. "But first, I want you to tell me about this war."

"They know more about it than I do," White said, looking expectantly at the others.

"It started with an attack on Germany," Vietnam explained. "They bombed the country, before taking Germany and Prussia captive. It's my understanding that partitions took place, and once it was finished they killed them. But it took a while. They used Prussia to lure France and his group in a trap."

"But that comes later," Taiwan said. "The second significant thing that happened was the African Union meeting."

"Ah, I know that one," White said, wincing. "I was at that meeting. They held our countries captive until most of us signed a contract, saying that we'll cut off all ties with everyone except the nations they've named in the contract, and that we'll do whatever they want. They allowed a few nations to go, but… They were apparently captured afterwards before being forced to join as well."

"They were stealthy in the beginning," Brazil said. "They took us by surprise. They took _me_ by surprise."

"And how were they ultimately revealed?" Khoisan asked.

"The contracts prevented us from speaking about them to outside nations," White explained. "We found a loophole. Since _I_ was the one that signed, Black wasn't included. And since we're the same nation, we could speak freely about it to each other. So we decided to send him to England to tip him off."

"Which works well, since not a lot of nations know about Black," Khoisan said, nodding.

"But at some point they found out about him, and captured him and… and murdered him."

"He managed to give us a lot of information," Vietnam said. "So it wasn't in vain. But as soon as they were revealed for what they were, they moved to take more territories, either capturing or killing the nations."

"So, they found a way to do that…" Khoisan muttered, looking worried.

"We had to split up to find ways to stop them," Taiwan said. "Didn't help when they decided to cut off our communications."

"They cut off _all_ communications, except for their own, apparently," Vietnam said.

"They gave us phones to communicate with each other, or so that they could reach us when they want to give us an order," White said.

"Do you have it?"

"No. I left it at my house."

"Probably a good idea," Brazil said. "They might be able to track us."

"We might have been able to hijack their signal," Vietnam said. "But you have a point – they _would_ track us with it."

"We've been trying to fight them," Taiwan said, "but they managed to kill quite a lot of us."

"And now we found out that they have a _continent_ on their side," White added.

"That's bad," Khoisan said. "Which one is it?"

"Antarctica."

"The cold one?"

"Jip."

"Well, we should be safe here. Usually, continents have a wide variety of climates, but… Well, long story short, Africa wouldn't have been able to go to Northern Europe, or Antarctica."

"Why not?" Brazil asked.

"Tell me something: how does a nation react when they're out of their climate zone?"

"It's basically how Robbie and I are when we're in Russia," White said. "Our countries don't usually get that cold, so we suffer a little."

Brazil looked a little pleased by the use of a nickname of his human name, but the others chose to ignore him.

"The same happens with continents with little variety," Khoisan said. "Africa is desert, temperate and tropical. It's not built for cold. And the fact that part of it is dominated by the equator…"

"You seem to know a lot about this," Vietnam said.

"Hey, just because of the way I live and _where_ I live, doesn't mean I'm an uneducated savage," Khoisan spat.

"England learned that the hard way," White said.

"Sorry," Vietnam said. "I'm just… surprised."

"I'm old," Khoisan said. "I've had a lot of time to figure some things out."

"But what you were saying," Taiwan said, "is that, because Antarctica is basically a frozen wasteland, he won't come here?"

"Essentially," Khoisan said, nodding. "Antarctica would be more accustomed to the cold, and the heat of the entire continent would be too much for him."

"I guess it would be the same for South America," Brazil mused.

"At least we know we're safe," White said. "From _him_ , at least."

"We should probably let China and the others know," Vietnam said. "If only there was a way to get General Winter. Unless you have a bird we could use?"

"A bird?" Brazil asked.

"The modern ways are obsolete," Taiwan explained. "So we have to go old-fashioned."

"Unless we can get Adamastor to help," Brazil said. "He's basically the same as General Winter, isn't he?"

"So you've met him?" Khoisan asked. "Interesting."

"I still can't believe I don't know the personification of _my_ storms," White muttered.

Brazil shrugged helplessly, and Khoisan turned to White.

"You had too much European influence," Khoisan said. "They had already lost too much of their own superstitions by that time, and they passed on their narrow-mindedness to you."

White pouted.

"This war doesn't have as much collateral as former wars," Vietnam said. "They prefer to target the nations themselves instead of the people. It's one of the reasons why we were so caught off-guard."

Khoisan nodded, before turning back to White.

"You said you needed my help," he said. "With what?"

White sighed.

"Your powers of prophecy," she said.

…

"It feels like we're descending," Slovenia observed.

"How far will it be from the airport?" Turkey asked.

"It took a while last time," Netherlands said.

"Right…" Russia said awkwardly. "We're not going to an airport."

"What?" Cyprus asked.

"Yao has thought it best that we land right next to his home," Russia said.

"Wait," Slovenia said, eyes wide. " _Is_ there a place where we can land a plane?"

Netherlands paled.

"He's going to kill us all," Netherlands muttered.

…

Wales put the phone away after reading the message from Belarus.

She had explained earlier that he had a new job: raising the new nations they found. That was the gist of Operation Legacy.

They weren't oblivious to the possibility that new nations would pop up, now that the previous ones were dead. Well, not exactly new _nations_. They'd be more like provinces in the empire that was Amodi. But an empire could become too big to manage.

That was one of the reasons why Amodi had opted for killing the nations in the first place. To prevent the empire from having too many nations and thus becoming unmanageable. But with new provinces born under Amodi's rule…

It was proof of their authority, and if they managed to raise young regions to have complete trust in them, to be completely _dependent_ of them…

Of course, there were a few exceptions. Not all the former nations would have successors, since their lands would belong to Amodi nations. South America was divided between the four of them and Brazil. It was possible for Central America to have someone representing that area, but it was mentioned that South America wouldn't be getting another representative. If _that_ happened, then it meant that Amodi's influence wasn't as strong as they would have liked.

There was also not supposed to be anyone else taking the land of the nations that formerly belonged to the United Kingdom (except for Cornwall, who would have to be dealt with) – Isle of Man was still more independent from them. Wales had discussed with Sealand, and they decided that Sealand would take the island of Ireland, while Wales took Great Britain. There was no room for anyone else.

And Wales wasn't the first British nation that tried to enforce it…

Wales hissed, before absentmindedly stroking his cheek. A phantom pain had struck at the thought, and he tried to steer his thoughts in another direction.

Wales would need to raise the new provinces they would acquire. It bothered him a little that he would have to use indoctrination on newborn lands, but it had to be done. They didn't want a civil war, uprising or rebellion. They needed to convince their new charges that their way was the only way.

In the end, Wales didn't mind that much. He loved children, and was happy that he was entrusted with raising the new generation.

…

"I just got word from Belarus," Poland said. "She found the representative of Baltia, the region that used to be the Baltic nations."

"And so it's begun," Italy said. "And you know what else it means?"

Poland smirked, nodding.

"Vilnius has become obsolete to us."

…

"I'm a little busy at the moment," Israel said.

He was on the phone with Canada, who had called him for an offer to join forces to destroy the other Middle Eastern nations.

"So, it doesn't interest you?" Canada asked.

"I need to find Anika and make her mine again," Israel said. "I honestly don't care what you do to them. Have fun. I know I'm going to gut a certain South American."

"Alright then. I'll try hard not to attack your land."

"What do you mean you'll _try_?!"

Too late. Canada had already disconnected the call. Israel stared at the phone for a moment before he started the car again.

White had a few other cars at her house. More… _civilian_ cars. Israel had taken it, but was caught in Johannesburg's traffic.

But he liked to think that he was gaining on her. And soon enough, they would be together again, and no one would take her away. And Brazil would _pay_ for separating them in the first place.

…

Ethiopia sighed in frustration. He had brought Lesotho and Swaziland to his own land, to their confusion. But he wouldn't divulge any information. It was best that they be as oblivious as possible.

Somalia had to entertain Namibia and Botswana, while Libya had to deal with Zimbabwe. And fortunately, Mozambique was at Romano's house as a prisoner _there_.

The reason for all of this was because they had lost South Africa as a prisoner, and already they could feel the effects of the Continent Conquest fading. But investigation had revealed that she had left the phone they gave her at her house, which meant that there was no way for her to contact the others and telling them about the method of escape.

She would most likely go to her neighbours first, trying to warn them. None of them would be there, and the five (now four) Amodi nations of Africa would know if she intruded in _their_ territory. And they would be able to make arrangements for her capture.

They _had_ been warned that Israel wanted her back, and it was easier (and safer) to simply hand her over to him. And her allies…

Israel would deal with them.

The important thing for _them_ is to make sure that none of the other African nations knew about the method of escape. If they _did_ …

Well, four against almost fifty weren't good odds at all.

…

San Marino winced, hearing the requests made by Canada. He would need to placate the North American nation somehow.

"Alright," San Marino said. "I'll speak to Veneziano – see what he says about it."

"If he says 'no', I hope you realise that I won't hesitate," Canada said calmly.

San Marino shuddered. Beneath the calm of the voice was an unbridled fury. And San Marino didn't want that fury directed at him.

"I'm sure he won't say no," San Marino said. "I'll… I'll call you back."

He disconnected the call and groaned. He _really_ didn't want to be on Canada's bad side.

He stood from his chair, making his way to the office, where Italy and Poland were. He waited for a moment, and when the conversation didn't sound _intimate_ , he knocked and entered.

"Why can't you knock more often?" Italy asked, annoyed.

San Marino chose to ignore him.

"Canada called," San Marino said. "He asked for an all-out assault on the Middle Eastern nations."

Italy and Poland exchanged a look.

"What does he have in store?" Italy asked.

"He asked to put the nuclear weapons at our disposal to good use," San Marino said.

Italy shuddered.

"He's angry about Egypt's death," Italy said. "We can't deny him, if that's what he wants. But we also can't allow him to outright destroy the area."

"Tell him that he can do it," Poland said. "But one by one. And make sure that he doesn't hurt Israel. It sounds as though he's already crazy enough without the influence of nuclear… Actually, he has nukes too, doesn't he?"

"Shit," Italy said. "Tell Canada _not_ to aim for Israel's neighbours. Instead use regular bombs for them. But the rest he can deal with, as long as it's one by one."

San Marino nodded, before he went back to his own office. He immediately dialled Canada's number.

"And what did he say?" Canada asked casually.

"You're allowed to use nuclear force," San Marino said, "as long as you use it one by one. We don't want too much at one time, and in too close quarters. Also, it might be best not to use them on Israel's neighbours. Instead, you could use regular bombs for them. We don't want to harm an ally, after all. Especially one whose love interest was taken from him by a romantic rival."

Canada was silent for a moment, and San Marino hoped that he was considering his words.

"I see," Canada said. "That explains why he didn't want to help me. Oh well. I understand. I'll make sure that none of them would be able to hit Israel."

"Thank you," San Marino sighed in relief.

"And I think attacking them one by one would be better," Canada continued. "It would make them paranoid, wondering who would be the next to die."

"Enjoy then."

"Thank you. I _will_."

San Marino disconnected the call again, and he shuddered. He almost felt sorry for the Middle Eastern nations.

He shook his head, before deciding to see what Vatican, or perhaps Seborga was doing. He was actually in the mood of brotherly company.

The closest bedroom was Seborga's, and so he opened the door, only to find…

"What the hell?!"

"Close the door!"

"Don't you ever knock?!"

…He forgot that Seborga was in a relationship with Hutt River.

…

"Where is he?" Liechtenstein asked impatiently.

She and Puerto Rico had arrived at New Hampshire's house, but there was no sign of the state. Puerto Rico glanced towards a nearby shelf, before running his finger along the surface.

"The place is dusty," he said. "Looks like he hasn't been here in a while."

"Well, that's just _perfect_ ," Liechtenstein said sarcastically. "Where could he have gone?"

…

New Hampshire shuddered. Something was seriously wrong.

Maine looked up from the book that he was reading, as though sensing that something was wrong with his brother.

"What's up?" Maine asked.

"I just got the feeling that something's wrong," New Hampshire said.

"Any idea what it might be?" Maine asked.

"Nope."

"Hopefully it turns out to be nothing."

"Yeah… It's probably nothing."

…

"Well, we have something else to look forward to," Puerto Rico said. "America's probably on his way here right now."

"And we'll prepare for him," Liechtenstein said.

…

Khoisan sighed, while the others sat around him in a circle. He glanced towards White.

"It would be unwise to go to any of your neighbours," Khoisan said. "It is a trap, and they wouldn't be there."

White nodded her head.

"Also, be careful," Khoisan said. "You are the object of someone's obsession, and the things he'd be willing to do to ensure that you remain his possession…"

"Israel," Brazil said. "That's not good."

"Indeed," Khoisan said. "You also need to be careful. The obsessed one sees you as a rival and a threat. And then you have flesh-eaters after you. They would wish to reclaim you, but they aren't so willing to keep you alive this time."

"Flesh eaters…" Brazil mused. "I heard that Argentina, Peru, Chile and Venezuela are the most likely to indulge in cannibalism. Argentina already tasted me…"

Brazil rubbed the side of his neck, and White looked annoyed for a moment.

"You two would also need to be careful," Khoisan said, addressing Vietnam and Taiwan. "There are three that wish to see you dead."

"Understood," Vietnam said. "But what about the war? How can we end it?"

"The war would end once one of the two masters had died," Khoisan said. "But the loss would be too great."

"Loss?" White asked. "What loss?"

Khoisan shook his head, his eyes clearing.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Just that things wouldn't be so simple."

"Thank you," Vietnam said. "We'll need to get back to the main group to share what we've learned."

"I wish you safe travels," Khoisan said, smiling. "If you don't mind, I think I'll stay right here."

…

America came to a stop. They were parked outside New Hampshire's house, with another car parked in front of theirs in the driveway. America recognised it as New York's car, but knew that it wasn't New York.

He rushed out of the car, heading towards the front door. The others followed after him.

When America threw the door open, two nations were waiting for him on the other side, and he felt his rage grow. Especially at the sight of a certain one of them.

"Welcome," Liechtenstein said. "We've been waiting for you."

 **First meeting between the Portuguese and the Khoisan didn't go so well. The Portuguese were gathering water on the new land they've discovered, and the Khoisan were curious about the newcomers, but didn't want to get too close. They ended up throwing things to test the newcomers, and one of the Portuguese sailors responded by firing at them. The result was that they were chased back to their ship. The second significant encounter between the two groups, they were amicable and had a party… but was ruined by the Portuguese firing a cannon, resulting in them being chased away** _ **again**_ **. England also had a bad first meeting, and the first Europeans to have a good first encounter with them were the Dutch.**

 **Jeff Dunham had joked about Johannesburg's traffic, saying that it takes 6 hours to see one block. Earned quite a chuckle. And I had a winter school to attend in Johannesburg two weeks ago, and I kind of agree. Our lecturer was driving, and at one point we stopped at a red light, with the taxis passing us and completely ignoring the red light. She moaned "why is everyone driving past us?", and we just answered that it's the taxis. And then there's Pretoria, which is** _ **worse**_ **.**


	87. Chapter 86

**Thanks to Shattering Colors, Terra, Pink Tourmaline, ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 86**

The two groups remained silent as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. America was trembling in rage, and his gaze was focused on Puerto Rico. The others had their attentions focused on Liechtenstein.

"What are you doing with _her_?" America demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Liechtenstein asked. "He's on our side now. He _asked_ to join us. And guess who the person is that he hates?"

Puerto Rico narrowed his eyes, which were fixed on America.

"Let me guess," America said. "You think that I've treated you unfairly, or that I'm the reason why you didn't amount to much, blah blah blah… I've heard it before. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there's _another_ traitor."

Puerto Rico scowled.

"What did you do to New Hampshire?" America demanded.

"As it turns out, he wasn't here at all," Liechtenstein said. "But since we knew that you were coming, we decided to wait for you."

"We outnumber you," Pakistan said, trying to look threatening.

Liechtenstein giggled, removing a handgun.

"As far as I can tell, _you're_ unarmed," Liechtenstein said.

…

"Were you trying to kill us?!" Singapore snapped, glaring at China.

All of them were outside of the plane in the field next to the village. China kept his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Why are you so mad?" China asked. "Everyone's unharmed. And it wasn't a rough flight, was it?"

"I don't think _that's_ the issue," Japan sighed. "This place doesn't exactly look as though it's the best to land a plane."

"It _is_ a little small," Netherlands said. "And… uneven."

China huffed.

"I landed safely, that's all that matters," China said. "Now, come on."

The others followed him, noting that the place where he was leading them to looked like the ruins of a village, with only one building still standing. China turned to them.

"That was my residence in this village," he explained. "After this village fell to ruin, I decided to restore this building to act as a home whenever I feel the world was starting to get too crazy. I come by every year to maintain the place."

"And what about the rest of the buildings?" Yemen asked, looking around.

"This was supposed to be where I came to be _alone_. There was no need to rebuild the other homes."

"Which just gives _us_ more work," Georgia sighed.

"But it works out well," Russia said. "No one else knows of this place, da? And Amodi has troubles finding us."

"It _is_ the ideal location," Norway said. "We just need to rebuild."

Japan nodded.

"Perhaps we should all decide who we want to be our housemates, and we can start rebuilding," Japan said.

China nodded.

"We've already started restoring the agriculture for food," China said. "And we've bought some supplies, but… I fear it might not be enough."

"We'll have to get some supplies then," Turkey said.

…

America wanted to kick himself. Of course, he hadn't thought of bringing any weapons with him. He was _America_. How could he at least not have a _gun_ with him?

Not that it usually did much to a nation, other than cause an enormous amount of pain, or a temporary death. But Amodi's weapons were designed so that the deaths _weren't_ temporary. And of course, with Liechtenstein being as small as she was, she needed a weapon, especially when going up against someone of greater strength.

Liechtenstein pulled the trigger, and America's eyes widened before he rolled out of the way. But he realised too late that _he_ wasn't the one that Liechtenstein had been aiming for.

He turned back to see Jordan, whose hands were pressed against her throat. Between her fingers, America could see the blood. Thailand and Pakistan were trying to help her, but another shot made them duck, dragging Jordan down with them.

That was when America realised that Liechtenstein wouldn't be aiming for _him_. She was aiming for her allies.

Just as she was targeting his states.

"Take cover!" America shouted, before he charged at Liechtenstein.

Liechtenstein's eyes widened briefly before she aimed at America. He cried out in pain when she shot him in the thigh, but it was suitable enough to distract her and giving the others a chance to escape.

"Keep him busy," Liechtenstein snarled at Puerto Rico, before she charged out of the door to follow after Thailand and the others.

America snarled as Puerto Rico got into a defensive stance, and he noticed that he wasn't making any move to draw a weapon. Which meant that either he didn't think he needed it, or he didn't _have_ one.

But America needed to deal with Puerto Rico before he could rescue the others. He needed to knock him out as soon as possible. Or _take_ him out.

…

"So, where are we going _now_?" Vietnam asked.

White sighed, leaning against her car.

"I'm not sure," White said. "I mean, the logical choice is that we get out of here and join the others. The only question is, _how_? There are no flights to China anymore. And if we _do_ take a plane, it could potentially alert our enemies."

"America took a plane," Taiwan said.

"He probably took it from a nation that isn't under their control," White said. "I noticed when we went to Kimberley. Everything is still out of balance."

The others were silent for a moment.

"We still need to get those diamonds, don't we?" Brazil pointed out.

"Already done," White said.

The others looked at her oddly.

"We were in _Kimberley_ ," White pointed out. "It's pretty much my diamond capital. Not as much as it used to be, with the hole out of commission…"

"But you got some diamonds?" Vietnam asked.

White nodded, going to the back. The truck had a canopy, and she opened it in order to dig around inside, before she emerged with a small sack. She reached inside the sack, removing a rather large, uncut diamond.

"I think that should be suitable enough," Vietnam said.

"It _better_ be," White said. "You do _not_ want to know how I got it."

"We'll take your word for it," Brazil said.

"So then, how are we going to get to China?" Taiwan asked.

"I think Adamastor might be willing to take us," Brazil said. "He's done a lot to help me. Like tell me about how to break free, or where I could find Anika."

White stared at him for a moment before she nodded.

"We'll see if we can reach him," White said.

They were interrupted by a crack of thunder, before a small hurricane manifested in front of them, and when it disappeared, an imposing figure stood.

"Adamastor," Brazil said with a smile.

White stared with wide eyes, and Adamastor smiled.

"It's a pleasure to _finally_ meet you," Adamastor said, wrapping her in a hug.

White seemed surprised for a moment, but she didn't protest the hug.

"…I don't think General Winter would be willing to do _that_ ," Taiwan said, and Vietnam shook her head.

Adamastor pulled back.

"I heard you say that you need to go to China?" he asked.

…

Thailand was carrying Jordan on his back as he and Pakistan made their way to the car. There was no way that they could run away with an injured Jordan. They quickly dove into the car, locking the doors, right before the front window shattered from the force of a bullet, forcing them to duck.

"He left the key here!" Pakistan said, eyes wide.

"So what are you waiting for?!" Thailand snapped. "Start the car."

"But… America?"

They were interrupted by another shot, and Pakistan shakily turned the key, which was still in the ignition. Meanwhile, on the backseat, Thailand was desperately trying to staunch the bleeding of a rapidly paling Jordan.

"Come on," Thailand muttered. "Hang in there.

Pakistan managed to start the car, just as Liechtenstein came close. He quickly reversed, hitting something behind him but not caring. They just needed to get away.

They heard another _bang_ , but managed to put some distance between them and the crazed Liechtenstein. Pakistan was breathing heavily, and he turned to Thailand.

"What about America?" Pakistan demanded.

"After… us," Jordan gasped.

The two males were silent as they absorbed the information. Thailand swallowed and nodded.

"It looks like it," Thailand said. "Liechtenstein's the bigger threat, and I think she has more status in Amodi. The fact that she chose to go after _us_ instead of dealing with America…"

"But… _why_?" Pakistan asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Why go after the states? Why not go after America?"

"Because America wasn't here, but now he is?"

"Because they want to hurt America by attacking innocents. He thinks of himself as the 'hero', right? Now, what could affect a hero?"

"…I don't exactly watch that genre…"

"Failing to protect or save someone… _That's_ the thing that hurts a hero the most. Especially those closest to them."

Pakistan sighed, before he stopped the car. He was slightly relieved. Driving had been a little tricky. Thailand looked over towards him in confusion.

"We can't just leave America behind," Pakistan said.

"Well, what can we do?" Thailand asked. "If we go back, we'll just end up dead."

"What are the chances of one of America's states having weapons in his house?"

Thailand was quiet for a moment, pondering the question.

"Considering it's _America_ ," Thailand said, "there's a _very_ strong possibility."

"We just need to make sure that they don't hear the car," Pakistan said as he drove again.

…

America was still stronger than Puerto Rico, in spite of the extra power the latter had received from Amodi, and had him pinned to the ground, their hands clasped as they tried to force the other down or away. Puerto Rico had also manoeuvred himself so that he could keep his foot pressed against America's injured thigh, right against the bullet wound.

It had become a competition to see who could hold out the longest, with America pressing down against Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico's leg bent slightly awkwardly, and Puerto Rico pressing against America's injury, with his knee digging into America's stomach.

America cried out as a bang was heard, and Puerto Rico took the opportunity to kick America off of him. Liechtenstein was standing nearby with the smoking gun, and a new injury in America's lower back, just above the hip bone.

"Your friends abandoned you," Liechtenstein said.

"At least I _have_ friends," America said. "You didn't even give _him_ a weapon."

"Didn't think it would be necessary," Liechtenstein said. "He was supposed to help me with your states. And it was only supposed to be _you_ , but we suspected you might have someone with you. Not even _you_ could have been stupid enough to come alone in the middle of a war. And no one was supposed to try to get away."

America knew what she was saying. _She_ was intending to fight America this whole time. Puerto Rico wasn't supposed to get involved at all.

She pulled the trigger again, and America cried out as his wrist was shot. The wrist of the same hand that he was using to support himself with. He collapsed to the ground, and he was pleased to hear a _click_ instead of a _bang_.

He felt his stomach drop, though, when he realised that she had brought ammunition with her.

He hated to admit it, but she had good aim. Probably something to do with being Switzerland's sister. And the fact that she was just _toying_ with him…

"Why are you doing this?" America asked.

" _Are_ you really that stupid?" Liechtenstein shrieked, and he flinched at the sound of her voice. " _Think_ , if you know how."

It took America a moment before things clicked.

"Molossia," he whispered.

"Jason was _everything_ to me," Liechtenstein said. "He was the first person I've ever loved – the _only_ person. He treated me like a queen. Not a princess, like everyone else, but a _queen_. Someone to be admired and respected, not treated like a _doll_! And I know that I'm basically a soldier like everyone else in Amodi. The only reason they should care about my death is because it would make _them_ weaker. But it's the same way I feel about _them_. They helped me gain more land, and all I needed to give them was my loyalty. Canada and Mexico even stepped aside for me. Allowed me to take my vengeance on you, because they felt it was more important than _their_ grudge against you. No one outside of Amodi has ever done something like that for me. And Jason… To him, I wasn't just some mere soldier. He wanted my company, and I wanted his. And when nothing significant was happening, he would be by my side. He sometimes forgot that _I_ was the stronger one, just because he wanted to do something on my behalf. Not because he thought I was _weak_ , but because he thought it would be a waste of my time. Even if he got hurt out of it, as long as he saw me smile, he said it was worth it. And you took him away from me!"

America swallowed a lump in his throat. He had thought of the Amodi nations as monsters this whole time, but… seeing her like this…

He wanted to believe that she was always this insane, but… he couldn't. He knew that _he_ was the reason why she was like this.

In times like this, his mind tended to wander to his colonial days with England. This time, his mind wandered to a moment it would often wander to, where England told him that he didn't, under _any_ circumstance, want a woman angry with him.

It was this play that England had forced him to watch.

" _Truer words have never been spoken," England said. "Pay attention, lad."_

" _Huh?" America asked._

" _Never make a woman angry. They become downright terrifying."_

" _But… where did that come from?"_

" _Didn't you just hear? 'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned'. Remember that, should you ever make enemies with a woman."_

He tended to remember the last part well, because England had warned him about _women_. And he remembered the version the rest of the world remembered, 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. And he understood what England had meant when he dealt with Mexico, Confederacy and Vietnam. And when England had once told him about this poem written by one of his people about the female of the species being more deadly than the male, America had secretly studied the poem until he memorised it by heart. He wondered how many other nations noticed that he tended to back off a little too easily whenever a woman was angry at him.

And Liechtenstein was no different. Actually, she was _worse_. Because she was the first one that made him remember the first part of the quote.

'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned…' America could see that the love for Molossia had been turned into hatred for him. And he wondered why England didn't warn him about _that_ part.

"You took my most precious person away from me," Liechtenstein said. "Now, I'm going to take _everything_ away from you."

…

"Oh, you want to share a house with _me_?" Russia asked, smiling down at the two children clinging to his coat.

Vilnius and Transnistria nodded, glaring at each other. Russia giggled and ruffled their hair.

They all heard the sound of thunder, and turned to the field, where they saw what appeared to be a pickup truck appear from out of nowhere. Four figures climbed out, looking dishevelled. Russia's eyes widened, and he smiled.

"We have more comrades here," Russia said, going to greet them, along with other nations.

"South Africa, Brazil!" China exclaimed, large smile on his face. "How did you get here?"

"Adamastor was kind enough to help us out," Brazil said. "He offered to take us in South's car."

"Don't say 'South'," White sighed. "Since you know about Black, call me White."

"What exactly happened to him?" Netherlands asked, going to hug White, much to her surprise.

"He was executed," she said. "Um, why are we hugging?"

"Because right now, _you're_ the only member of my family that _isn't_ their prisoner," Netherlands said.

"Sim," Brazil said. "Belgium, Luxembourg, Indonesia…"

"Are they alright?" Netherlands asked.

It was rare to see the stoic nation so emotional. So much that it seemed to freak White and Brazil out. Still, Brazil nodded his head, and Netherlands sighed in relief.

"Well, it's a good thing you're here, and with _that_ ," China said, gesturing to the truck. "Now we can go get some more supplies."

…

Khoisan came out when he felt a disturbance. And on the outskirts of the settlement, an intruder could be seen.

He sighed. He had neglected to tell White that _he_ was on his way there. He didn't want to give her another burden. With nervous looks from his people, he went to greet the other nation.

"She's not here," Khoisan said. "She already left."

"Where is she?" Israel demanded.

"She said she was heading northeast. I didn't hear her say where exactly, though."

Israel groaned, reaching into his pocket.

"If you kill me, you will earn nothing but her hatred, and she will _never_ love you again," Khoisan said.

Israel paused, before he smirked.

"That 'again' tells me that she loved me before," Israel said. "And that there's still hope to bring her around."

Khoisan sighed. There would be no reasoning with him, but at least it looked like he was leaving.

…

"No, Jordan!"

Pakistan slammed the brakes before turning back to regard Thailand, who looked as though he was panicking.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"She's not breathing," Thailand said, placing his hands on her chest, intending to do CPR. "Her… Her heart. I can't feel…"

Pakistan looked over towards Jordan, who was staring with blank eyes. Thailand was trying to resuscitate her, but it was already too late.

Another ally had died.

 **Recently I stumbled upon the trope page for 'More deadly than the male', which is about women being more dangerous. Seriously, the examples given… One example is Rudyard Kipling's poem** _ **The female of the species**_ **, which is the one referenced here. There's also a link to the poem, and you can find it in the 'quotes' tab.**

 **I once saw the full quote of 'hell hath no fury' and searched for it again. It was really befitting of Liechtenstein. It's from** _ **The Mourning Bride**_ **from William Congreve.**

 **Pakistan's trouble with the car is because they drive on the left side. I actually mentioned that problem in a previous chapter, but since this car was an automatic, the problem isn't as big.**

 **Bakkies also tend to have canopies. When my sister was looking for a car, she couldn't remember the word 'canopy' and said 'lid'. In Afrikaans it's especially funny, since 'bakkie' refers to a container as well, like Tupperware. 'Bak' can also be used to refer to 'bowl' or 'baking'.**

 **Also, I've entered A Different Kind of Vampire to FicFun's writing contest, under 'Vampires and Werewolves'. If you guys could show your support, I'd really appreciate it.**


	88. Chapter 87

**Thanks to Terra, Pink Tourmaline, pastaaddict, ScandinavianTrash and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 87**

Pakistan and Thailand were silent for a long moment. Thailand leaned back, a tear rolling down his face. In spite of his best efforts, Jordan had died.

And they could feel the difference. Both of them had been in wars before. Both of them had dealt a 'fatal' blow to an enemy before in the heat of battle. But they could always tell that a nation was still _there_. That their death was only temporary.

But not now. They could feel that Jordan was gone. And nothing could change that. There was no waiting for it all to change. There was no revival. She was just _gone_.

And it had happened so casually.

The two had been in many wars. Had seen many people die. But this time… Was this how humans felt?

"We need to get going," Pakistan said. "We need to help America. Somehow."

Thailand nodded, and reluctantly the two got out of the car, leaving Jordan's body there. They weren't too far from the house, and neither Liechtenstein nor Puerto Rico were waiting for them.

They got in through the back, and they needed to stop and listen to make sure that America was still alive. And after being certain, they started to search for a weapon that they could use.

…

America grunted as Liechtenstein shot him again, this time aiming for the ankle. He was sure that she had completely shattered the bones. He needed to think of something. He couldn't allow her to continue like this. And he couldn't simply _let_ them walk away.

"And how are you going to do that?" America asked, referring to her claim that she would take _everything_ away from him.

Liechtenstein smiled.

"Once I'm sure you're sufficiently incapacitated, we'll continue to go for your states," Liechtenstein said. "You'll be forced to feel them die, unable to do a thing to help them."

America gritted his teeth, but at least now he knew that they intended to keep him alive. But what did she mean by 'sufficiently incapacitated'?

He eyed the gun, and he realised what she meant, feeling where the bullets had penetrated his body. But he could still move. He could still fight. And Liechtenstein probably knew that. But she didn't continue to aim with the gun.

He also realised that she was waiting for the moment when he couldn't fight anymore. And it wasn't just because of the lack of energy produced by blood loss… the wrist and ankle were very strategic shots. They were meant to restrict his movements. The shot in his thigh and the one just above his hip bone served the same function.

Liechtenstein was watching him carefully, the gun momentarily lowered but she could still fire the moment America made a move towards her. She was also standing too far away for a sudden lunge to work.

Puerto Rico had also moved out of America's reach, but he was a lot closer than Liechtenstein was. And he was unarmed.

America just needed a sufficient distraction.

…

Poland arched his brow while he looked at the map. This was a map that Romania and Egypt had enchanted to show them how the world shifted. It was specifically meant to show them _exactly_ how their borders worked.

Each member of Amodi had a colour associated with them, while all of their territories were given their own colour. Territories that weren't under their control remained white.

Africa and South America were colourful, except for the white chunks that belonged to South Africa and Brazil. But they would ensure that those areas regained their colour soon. Perhaps a different colour.

But the reason why Poland's attention was caught was that Jordan became coloured. It meant that one of their allies had managed to kill her. The eastern and central part of the country became their territory colour, the same as most of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia, making it a large area with the same colour. The western part of the country, however, became Israel's colour, the same as the westernmost part of Syria. And now Lebanon and the Palestine were the white territories there.

It happened sometimes that one of them would get some of the land of a nation that had died. It either went to the nation that killed them, or to the neighbouring nation. A lot of territories were agreed upon, but sometimes the world decided to make another choice.

And if one of _them_ died… Tokyo was separated from the rest of Japan – he probably needed a new capital now. But the land that used to be Tokyo belonged to North and South Korea, who had decided that they wanted to share all their territories. Molossia, though too small to see, belonged to Liechtenstein. And Egypt's land belonged to Canada now.

Poland glanced towards the section of the map dedicated to America. Texas belonged to Mexico. Alaska belonged to Canada. Nevada, New York and Vermont belonged to Liechtenstein. And Hawaii…

Actually, Hawaii had completely disappeared off the map, becoming uninhabitable due to an abundance of volcanic activity. They had yet to send someone there to see how much damage there was. But it still meant that America had lost a state.

America was one of their biggest threats. Seeing so much of his land belonging to Amodi… They could use some more, but it was a start.

And then they seriously needed to gain land in China and Russia. At least most of Europe already belonged to them.

But as long as they could just get a hold on lands in their biggest threats' lands… things _should_ go quite smoothly.

It was too bad about Japan and China's regions. The fact that they had died in the plane crash meant that no one could claim their lands, not even India, who was the one whose land they crashed in. And even if there _were_ survivors… the odds of them still being alive were _very_ slim. And India didn't respond to their potential presence, which suggested that there _was_ no presence to respond to.

But it was still nice to see how the war progressed, particularly when they were doing well.

Poland then glanced towards Eastern Europe, in particular where the old Yugoslavia used to be. Only Slovenia remained white, but it was part of Romania's game. He also noted that only _some_ of the land belonged to Romania. He would need to send Belarus or Switzerland to search for any new nations there.

…

"I hope America's doing fine," Pakistan said worriedly.

He and Thailand had managed to find a bedroom, and they were looking around for a weapon. They figured that there had to at least be a gun _somewhere_.

The two winced when another shot echoed through the house, followed by a pained cry.

"It sounds as though he's _alive_ , at the very least," Thailand said.

"We need to hurry," Pakistan said, going over towards the bed. "If we wait too long, then he might not be alive for much longer."

Pakistan opened the drawer of the nightstand and smiled.

"Found it," he said.

…

"How long are we going to wait?"

"We need to wait until they're gone. If we don't, we might as well be committing suicide."

"But we can't just let…"

"We won't. And besides, I don't think they _want_ to. They have other things they want to do."

"…I hate waiting."

"I know. Me too. But if we want to survive, we _need_ to."

…

America winced, pressing his hand against his injured calf. The hand he was using was the one with the injured wrist, since he didn't want to make the other hand – or arm – a target. Not if he was going to do what he wanted to do.

He remembered all of their discussions about how to kill nations, and one in particular stood out. He hoped that he was strong enough to do it. He would need to tap into his power as a superpower, and it might not work, but he wouldn't know unless he tried.

Liechtenstein's eyes flitted across his frame, and he knew that she was looking for a target to shoot. As long as he didn't give her that target, everything should be fine.

He glanced towards the hallway and saw two figures lurking. He kept his head slightly angled away so that he could still see them from the side, and he had to hold in a sigh of relief when he realised that it was Pakistan and Thailand.

He hoped that they could distract Liechtenstein without getting shot.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened to Jason," America said. "Do you think it didn't hurt me that I had to attack him? I considered him family, after all."

Liechtenstein narrowed her eyes.

"You used your _army_ to attack his land," Liechtenstein said. "He didn't even have that much to begin with! You found out that he was one of us, and you responded with _overkill_! You never thought of him as much of a threat _before_. So tell me: what changed when you decided to take him down? And if that's how you treat those you consider _family_ , then maybe the states are the wrong people to go after."

America gritted his teeth. At the time, he had been upset about Hawaii's death, and after discussing it with Yemen and Michoacán, they had decided to attack the weakest links. Or at least the one that they had some access to. And that happened to be Molossia.

He also recalled the last conversation that he had had with Molossia, after it was revealed that he was a member of Amodi. Molossia had told him that before the end of the war, America would cross just as many lines as Amodi. Molossia had been one such line.

And America knew that he was going to cross another line soon.

He hated the fact that they were right about him, but he had to accept that he needed to do whatever had to be done to end this war.

"I wasn't intending to kill him," America said.

"Well, things didn't work out like that, did they?" Liechtenstein snapped. "And do you want to know what else? He didn't immediately die. He was comatose, and he only woke up long enough for me to get my hope back, and then he died. He died and it's all your fault!"

America winced. When she put it like that…

Neither of them had time to say or do anything else. There was a _bang_ that came from the direction where America knew Thailand and Pakistan were standing, and a startled shriek from Liechtenstein. Puerto Rico also looked towards the direction of the shot's origin, and America took the opportunity presented to him.

America lunged towards Puerto Rico, trying not to let the pain stop him. Puerto Rico had just enough time to turn back to America when America thrust his arm through the other's chest, utilising all his strength as a superpower to achieve that. Puerto Rico's eyes widened as America's hand squeezed around his heart.

"Say 'hello' to Molossia for me, traitor," America snarled before he crushed the heart.

Puerto Rico shuddered before going limp, and America had to pull his arm out. He heard insane laughter, and turned to regard Liechtenstein.

"You're no hero," she said. "You're a villain."

America's eyes widened when he realised that she had been shot in the head, though she acted as though it was nothing. The black ribbons were visible along her left arm. She removed a small metal ball from her pocket.

Before America could react, she threw it to the ground, releasing a cloud of smoke. And when the smoke cleared, she was gone.

America swayed on his feet, and he had already sunk to his knees when Pakistan and Thailand ran over to him.

"Are you alright?" Thailand asked.

"I…" America gasped. "I need a moment."

"That was brutal," Pakistan said.

America didn't need the other to tell him that. He looked at his bloody arm and felt his stomach coil in disgust. It was Puerto Rico's blood. He had killed him with his bare hand. And the words he said…

He hated to agree with the enemy, but he had definitely crossed several lines by now. And perhaps Liechtenstein was right. He _wasn't_ a hero. What he just did… only villains did something like that.

"America!" a familiar voice shouted. "Are you alright?"

He looked over towards the front door, where two blurry figures were standing. His vision swam, before it completely faded.

…

"Vatican!"

Vatican frowned. The voice sounded like Liechtenstein's. Did she just arrive? And did it have anything to do with the black ribbons appearing, announcing that another one of their members had died?

He shook his head, before he stood. San Marino looked up in worry.

"What do you think happened?" he asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Vatican said.

Vatican made his way to the main room, and he saw that the others were also making their way there. And once they arrived, they couldn't help but gawk at the sight.

Liechtenstein stood there, the right side of her head completely bloody. She looked over towards Vatican.

"Fix it," she said, pointing to her head.

Vatican's eyes widened when she suddenly dropped to the ground. Italy sighed, turning to Vatican.

"You heard her," Italy said.

"Wasn't Puerto Rico with her?" Poland asked, head cocked to the side.

"We'll wait until she wakes up to hear her status report," Italy sighed. "Something tells me that it would be eventful."

…

"I had just arrived, and already I'm sent on an errand," White muttered.

"No complaining," China said. "I don't like it any more than you do."

The two of them were in White's bakkie, on their way to get supplies for the settlement they would need to make. China also had a car there, but it wouldn't help them much. And since White wouldn't allow anyone else to drive her car, she was forced to play chauffeur to China.

"Why didn't you keep that village maintained?" White asked.

"It was supposed to be my place of relaxation!" China snapped. "I didn't expect that the village would be changed into a nation village."

White sighed.

"So, we need building supplies, food and water?" she asked.

"Basically," China said. "This is apparently the safest place in the world. Amodi can't track it, and the only ones that know of its existence are in the village, and with America."

"But how long do you think it can last?"

"I hope a long time. Right! Right!"

White swerved before coming to a stop. They had just joined a main road. She glanced towards China, annoyed.

"My people drive on the _right_ side of the road," China said.

"And this car is designed for the _left_ side," White snapped. "And I don't see anyone else around. Surprisingly. And until then, I'm sticking to the _left_ side."

China groaned as she started driving again. This was going to be a _long_ ride.

…

"We can use some of the materials already here," Turkey said. "Like the trees. And we can _try_ to rebuild what's been left here, but…"

"It's a good thing this place is pretty dense with trees," Vietnam said. "But we have to be smart about how we use them, otherwise there wouldn't be anything left."

"I think for now we should focus on housemates," Netherlands said. "Try to determine exactly how many houses we would need."

Russia smiled, the two children still clinging to him as they glared at each other. Vietnam and Taiwan moved closer to Singapore and Japan, and like that, all of them started dividing into groups.

Brazil was looking around, wondering where he could go when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Netherlands staring down at him.

"I would like a word with you," Netherlands said.

Brazil gulped nervously, but he followed Netherlands as he walked away from the group. He also noticed someone else following, and he turned around to see Madeira.

Perhaps it was to ask about how everyone was doing. But Netherlands had already asked.

Netherlands came to a stop, before turning to face Brazil, arms crossed.

"What _exactly_ do they do to their prisoners?" Netherlands asked.

Brazil sighed, leaning against a nearby tree.

"They don't torture us, if that's what you're asking," Brazil said. "Not physically, at least. They like to remind us that we're their prisoners, and that there is no escape. Not without killing ourselves."

"But _you_ escaped," Netherlands said. "Why didn't you share your method with the others?"

Brazil swallowed thickly, averting his eyes.

"I didn't want to get them in trouble," Brazil said. "Amodi likes to punish by using those closest. That's why, when they captured us, they kept us together. They know that we don't want to hurt each other."

"And Azores?" Madeira asked.

"It's been made clear that they'll hurt the others in order to punish the one they're angry at," Brazil said.

"And they're mad at _you_ ," Netherlands said.

"But they have no way to reach me," Brazil said. "I figure, as long as they don't know how to reach me, they wouldn't bother with the others, since they would only waste their time. And I get the feeling that they don't like wasting their time."

"But how do you know that they didn't attack any of them after you left?" Netherlands asked. "How can you be sure that they didn't attack one of the others in order to threaten them not to do the same thing you did?"

Brazil bit his lip.

"I'm _not_ ," he said.

Netherlands sighed.

"Norway told us that they're still fine," Netherlands said. "That the worst thing they're dealing with is a hangover. But there's also another possibility that occurred to me."

"And what's that?" Brazil asked.

"That _you're_ going to be punished, and punished severely."

 **Yeah… It doesn't sound right to refer to it as anything other than a 'bakkie'.**


	89. Chapter 88

**Thanks to Civilreader, Terra, Shattering Colors, Elsa, Kattie, Alllans, Sinistrad, ScandinavianTrash and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 88**

"This is bad," Finland said, looking at the black ribbons around his arm. "We're losing far too many members."

"Da," Romania said. "I wonder if any of the prisoners decided to escape again?"

"Should we check on _ours_?"

"It might be a good idea. Though we should do it subtly. We don't want them to figure anything out." Romania smirked. "Luckily, my part will come soon."

"Are you okay with it?" Finland asked worriedly.

Romania closed his eyes, and he sighed.

"It's not yet," he said. "A few hours perhaps."

"You ignored my question," Finland said. "Are you okay with it?"

Romania gave a wry smile.

"I'm the only one that can do this," Romania said. "Egypt's gone, and Wales hasn't proved himself yet. Besides, he has other things to worry about." Romania sighed. "As for if I'm okay with it… It's going to be tricky. I'll be vulnerable while I'm busy. And if just one thing goes wrong… It's risky. Especially since I'm not sure of their location."

"How are you going to find them?" Finland asked.

"I'm familiar with their wavelengths. Once I've started, I can follow it. I wouldn't be able to put their location on a map, but I can find them."

Finland stared at Romania for a moment, before he pulled him into a hug.

"I hope that nothing happens to you," Finland whispered tenderly, before he kissed Romania's temple.

Romania smiled, nuzzling Finland's cheek.

"I'll go check on those three," Romania said. "And then I'll be right back."

…

"That's everything that this car can carry," White said, closing the canopy's door. "And now we just have to get back."

China nodded, looking towards the west.

"For some reason, I think something bad is going to happen," China said.

White followed China's gaze, seeing the sun setting on the horizon. She couldn't help but think that there was something wrong with it. Something… ominous.

It might just be the pollution, but there was certainly an intuitive feeling of wrongness that White was familiar with.

"I think you might be right," White said. "Come on. We'd better get back."

China nodded, and the two climbed in the vehicle, on their way back to the others.

…

America groaned when he woke up. He felt a little sick, and he wondered what caused him to feel like that, but only for a brief moment. Everything came back to him in a rush, and he wanted to be oblivious again.

"It looks like he's awake," someone said.

No, America didn't want to be awake. He just wanted to forget things for a while. He wanted to pretend that everything was still alright. That they weren't in the middle of a war. That none of his states were dead. That he hadn't killed Molossia and Puerto Rico.

He could still feel his arm piercing Puerto Rico's chest. There wasn't much resistance, and it was like breaking through one of those paper-walls in Japan. And holding Puerto Rico's heart in his hand…

He didn't like his war side. It made him do horrible things. It was what made him drop those bombs on Japan. It was the reason why Mexico and Confederacy hated him. He was only thankful that it hadn't existed yet during the Revolutionary War. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had unleashed _that_ on England. England was already broken by the war. If he had to endure through America's war side…

It was as Molossia had said. Before the war was over, he would cross as many lines as Amodi did. And what Liechtenstein said…

She was right. He wasn't a hero. Not with so much evil inside of him. And for someone like _Liechtenstein_ to call him that…

It only served to show him how evil he truly was.

What was he doing? He shouldn't be involved in a war. Not with what was hidden in his mind. He would only end up hurting the other nations. His allies would be in danger as well. When he got like that, he couldn't help it. He started to think that the world's weight rested on his shoulders alone.

No, that wasn't it. When he was like that, he wanted to be the one on top. And he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve that. And he started to think that the other nations on his side were inferior. That they couldn't do anything but provide cannon fodder.

He wanted to believe that he was the hero. That it was his destiny to restore order, or at least to restore _his_ order. And the other nations were clueless. They had no idea about what to do, and needed America to save them.

He had always been worried about his war side, and what it might do to the other nations, but he held onto it in order to get the job done. But after Liechtenstein called him a villain…

She was telling him that he was no better than her. And in fact, he was just as _bad_ as her. And reflecting on his actions, he knew that she was right. He _was_ a villain.

"America!" someone snapped. "Open your eyes. We know you're awake."

He recognised that voice. He slowly opened his eyes, and the girl leaning over him sighed in relief.

"Louisiana?" America asked. "When did you get here?"

"Around the same time you passed out," another familiar voice said.

America turned his gaze to the side, and he saw that Massachusetts was also there. Thailand and Pakistan were standing a distance away, looking at him worriedly.

"I feel sick," America said.

"You're pale," Louisiana said. "Nothing that a little gumbo can't fix."

America gave a small smile. It was typical of Louisiana to use food as a cure-all. And he didn't complain. She was part French, after all.

"What happened?" Massachusetts asked.

America shook his head, before he glanced towards his hand. The hand and arm were still bloody, but the blood had dried, and it almost felt as though it was burning.

"Uh, I think I need to wash this," America said.

"Okay," Thailand nodded. "And I think we should have a meeting afterwards, if that's okay with you?"

America absently nodded his head, before he focused on Thailand and Pakistan.

"What happened to Jordan?" he asked.

Thailand flinched, and Pakistan averted his eyes. Their reactions told him all that he needed to know.

"We need to give her the proper respects," America said in a quiet voice. "And then we need to go back for Vermont."

"And New York," Louisiana said. "We can fill you in on everything that's happened later. Just… do what you feel you need to do."

America nodded his head, and he made his way to the bathroom to clean the blood off him.

…

"Northeast?" Israel asked himself, looking at the red ribbon around his hand. "I didn't realise it meant _out of the continent_."

He sighed, trying to follow the link with his mind. White was somewhere in China, and most likely with _other_ nations.

It just became harder to get her back.

He wondered if he could launch an attack on China, before dismissing the thought. He didn't know _where_ she was, exactly. He might hurt her by accident.

But then again, perhaps it would be what he needed to get her weak enough to retrieve her. Because if he knew her, he knew that she would put up a fight.

That strong will of hers was one of the reasons why he fell for her in the first place.

…

White shuddered as she brought the bakkie to a stop. For some reason, she had a terrible feeling of foreboding.

"We made it," China sighed in relief.

"Why are _you_ like that?" she asked. "Your driving is worse than mine."

The two of them got out and made their way to the back. Some of the other nations were approaching them, smiling in relief.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Netherlands said. "We need to build at least twenty houses."

"That seems a little much," White said, cocking her head to the side.

"We'll need more materials," China groaned.

"We got zinc, cardboard, planks and rope," White said. "We can start with making zinc houses, like in my informal settlements, so that we at least have somewhere to sleep. We also got some blankets, but we're going to have to share for a while. We'll work on more permanent buildings tomorrow."

"We also stocked up on food, and there's a stream nearby with clean water," China said. "Or, at least as clean as it can be."

"We at least know how to filter water," Norway sighed, before he looked towards the car. "Good thing we have this thing now."

"Easy for _you_ to say," White grumbled. "I also had to stock up on fuel for this thing."

"It's still better than my car," China said, gesturing to a car a distance away.

Turkey threw his arm around China's shoulders, and the other yelped slightly as too much weight was placed on his still-injured leg. He glared at Turkey, who chuckled.

"Shall the two of us start working on the food?" Turkey asked.

"Yes!" Singapore exclaimed. "We're all starving here!"

They looked around the group and China sighed.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get to work, before anyone starts resorting to cannibalism."

"It takes a few days for _that_ to happen," White said. "Possibly a few weeks."

The others looked towards her, and she frowned.

"Haven't any of you experienced famine before?" she asked. "Nederland, I know that _you_ have suffered from one during World War Two."

"Fair enough," Netherlands said, looking a little perturbed. "Zuid-Afrika, your pronunciation…"

"I know, I know," White said. "Drunk Dutch. You've said it before."

"Nee," Netherlands said. "It _was_ Dutch."

…

East Timor watched as Indonesia paced around, muttering in Dutch. India had explained that the Amodi government in Indonesia had made Dutch compulsory in school. And as his children, and by proxy the adults, started speaking more and more Dutch, and a lot of the programs they broadcast were in Dutch, so did Indonesia start speaking more Dutch.

They didn't know why exactly they were doing it, but whatever they were doing appeared to be effective, judging by Indonesia's rants.

It was also how Portuguese was actively encouraged in Macau, while Chinese suffered a little. Macau was worried about it as well.

And Portugal… Portugal looked as though he was having his own problems.

They were careful of what they said in front of Romano or India, and usually spoke either Portuguese or Dutch with each other, since those were the two major languages in Romano's house at the moment. They were surprised that they weren't being forced to speak Italian or Hindi, and they were also surprised that neither Romano nor India got mad at them for speaking a language they couldn't understand.

…

"Did you hear them?" India asked.

"Si," Romano said. "They think that they can speak without us knowing what they're saying. They can just be happy that they didn't say anything that could cause problems."

"It was a smart move," India said. "Us learning the languages of all the nations we wanted to keep alive. And those that could cause a problem. It was a good thing that you acted as though you hated anything that isn't Italian."

Romano smirked.

"I should get an award for my acting skills," Romano said.

"They don't realise that we _want_ them to converse with each other in Portuguese and Dutch," India said. "A creole of those two languages would make Portugal more inclined to choose Netherlands. Not that he has much of a choice. China would die, we'd get another red ribbon on our side, and we get an explorer and a merchant on our side."

"No matter how unwilling it might be. Two of the nations responsible for opening up the world. And two of the nations that the prisoners would regard as parental figures or older siblings. They'd be more inclined to behave if there are nations like those on our side, but at the same time not members."

"We just need to get Netherlands now. And we need to kill China."

…

China shuddered. He just had a terrible feeling of foreboding.

…

"It's a good thing Hamp's clothes fit you," Massachusetts said, smiling.

"It's a _little_ tight," America admitted. "So, what have you two been up to?"

"We were combining magic and voodoo," Louisiana said. "We've fortified my house near New Orleans, along with the surrounding swamps."

"You fortified a _swamp_?" America asked in a deadpan voice. "Well, maybe you're on to something."

"We used magic to do that," Massachusetts said. "And before you say anything…"

"This war forced me to believe in magic," America said. "Don't worry about it. I know that there's truth there."

Louisiana and Massachusetts looked surprised, but their shoulders relaxed a little, showing that they had been worried about America's opinion on the subject.

"But what was that earlier?" Thailand asked. "America, your eyes were _red_. That's not normal."

"Um, yeah," America said, avoiding the others' eyes. "That's my war side, combined with my strength as a superpower. It makes me a little… scary."

"No kidding," Pakistan said. "But at least we managed to kill one of them. Too bad it wasn't Liechtenstein. That girl…"

"She's clearly unstable," Thailand said. "And isn't she one of the central members of Amodi?"

"Possibly," America said. "She was one of their members before the war began, at least. Don't know how much authority she has in their ranks, though. And she at least doesn't have any problems with the possibility that they might just be using her."

"People like that are dangerous," Louisiana said.

"We've been keeping track of all the other states," Massachusetts said. "We can't fight back or anything, and we figured having too many of us in one place would make for too easy a target. We're sorry we couldn't save anyone."

America nodded.

"You were smart to not make yourself a huge target," he said. "But I think you could have been stronger together. A better defence."

"That… hasn't really worked for us so far," Thailand said. "Remember the base in England… And now Russia's base?"

America winced.

"Okay, fine," America said. "It hasn't worked for us yet. At least Liechtenstein's gone now."

"But she might come back," Pakistan said. "She looked dead-set on making things difficult for you."

"Yeah," America said, wincing as he felt his wounds. "Um, I don't think I can go on like this. I'm in no state to do anything."

"We understand," Thailand said. "Those look painful."

"I thought nations healed fast," Massachusetts said, frowning.

"Those bullets are designed to kill nations," Pakistan said. "And the healing's slow."

"So, I can't do anything for a while," America sighed.

"I think we should take advantage of the time given to us," Louisiana said. "I think I have an idea that could give us an edge. I just need to be in my land to make it work. I actually know of a ghost town that we can use."

"Ghost town?" America asked nervously.

"We can use it to make a backup base," Pakistan said. "In case the one in China doesn't work out."

"What's the name of the place?" Thailand asked.

"Laurel Valley," Louisiana said. "It's still in decent shape."

"This plan of yours," America said. "It doesn't involve voodoo, does it?"

"…You know me so well."

…

Norway made his way towards White, holding a diamond in his hand. White was helping Brazil to build a shack with the materials gathered, and the other nations were observing her.

"White," Norway said. "About the diamonds…"

White turned to him, and he gave a small smile.

"These are perfect," he said, holding up the diamond.

"I'm glad," White said, smiling.

"Also, the two of you might want to detach yourselves from your lands."

"Because of Amodi's influence," Brazil said. "I can feel that the political situation in my land is unsavoury. Especially seeing as I can't play an active part anymore."

White nodded her head.

"We African nations have a tendency to detach ourselves from our governments," White said. "And we sometimes have to do it with our people as well. It was actually Israel who suggested I keep it up. When Black died, I could feel his people becoming mine as well, and um… His people outnumbered mine. So Israel suggested that I keep myself a little detached, since it was a little overwhelming for me."

"We South Americans tend to do it too," Brazil said, looking just a _little_ bit irritated that White was following Israel's advice.

"I see," Norway said, nodding his head.

"What about you?" Netherlands asked. "You were Amodi territory as well."

Norway smiled wryly.

"I've been completely and permanently detached," Norway said. "I'm not even a nation anymore. I'm the same thing Prussia was. If the name of 'Norway' is restored within the next hundred years, I can reclaim my position. But if anything happens to me before then, there will never again be Norway."

The others looked at him sadly, and all of them vowed that, should they succeed in defeating Amodi within the next hundred years, the nation of Norway would be restored.

…

Liechtenstein opened her eyes and glanced around. She brought her hand up to gently feel her head, and winced in pain.

She would need to take some time to recover, much to her chagrin. She wanted to get to work as soon as possible.

…

Switzerland looked around, hoping to find the new nation. They had given some of Spain's land to Portugal, and a lot of France's land went to Seborga and Switzerland. But the rest was combined, along with Andorra, to make a new province.

Switzerland heard a soft footstep behind him and turned around. Standing there was a boy with eyes like France's and hair of Spain's colour, but France's texture.

Switzerland grinned when he found what he was looking for.

 **Frain is actually my favourite pairing for both France and Spain, so I had fun thinking what the new nation would look like.**

 **When I typed up the part of Louisiana and food, and how she was part French, my thoughts immediately went to a South African town called Franschhoek (literally, French corner). In the early colonial days, the settlers were French Huguenots. And the thing the town is most famous for? The food (and also the wine).**

 **It took me** _ **forever**_ **to find a ghost town in either Louisiana/Massachusetts that could be used. Wikipedia to see the list, then clicked and read each one to see if it'll work (in other words if there's still a trace of it left, especially houses), and I even checked on Google Maps to see if I can find aerial photos of it. A lot of those towns have been lost due to flooding. So when I found an article (with recent photos) of Laurel Valley Village, I decided that** _ **this**_ **was the place, because I've been at it for a while and I was running out of towns.**

 **And I actually like writing the parts where the Amodi nations are with their lovers. It provides a nice contrast with the war, especially since they're the only ones in a fixed relationship, though Brazil is hoping that would change soon.**


	90. Chapter 89

**Thanks to Elsa, Shattering Colors, Terra, Civilreader, SassMcShizzles, pastaaddict, Pink Tourmaline, ScandinavianTrash, CheesecakeKittyCat, topaz3 and an anon for reviewing. 800 reviews? Thank you!**

 **And a ghost town refers to an** _ **abandoned**_ **town. It's not necessarily haunted. Quite a few of the towns I looked up were submerged, or completely destroyed.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 89**

"Alright," White sighed. "These should be sufficient. At least for tonight."

"And while we build proper houses," Netherlands said.

They had managed to build quite a few shacks, using all the materials they had at their disposal. China also offered his house for the others to stay in, but because most of them had stayed in too-close quarters to each other for a while now, they weren't exactly willing to stay in the same house. Especially one that would be too cramped.

The comatose Åland would be staying in China's house (a bed had already been provided for him), and Norway would also stay in China's house, being the most vulnerable among them. China had also offered a space for Quebec, simply to spare him from the arguing female regions.

Needless to say, the male regions were a little jealous of the attention Quebec had garnered from their female counterparts by now.

"This will be a great settlement soon enough," Russia said, looking over the shacks with a smile. "It's nice. So many nations living together, and all to stop a common enemy."

"Yeah," Turkey said. "I guess it _is_ nice."

"I've lived for thousands of years," China said. "But… this is the first time that so many nations have come together in perfect harmony. Even in previous wars when nations would combine their strengths, they always had their own agendas."

"Well, perhaps that is saying a _bit_ too much," Japan said, glancing towards Russia.

Russia caught the look and shook his head.

"Not this time," Russia said. "In the past, da. I had wanted everyone to become one with Russia. We would all safely live under the same roof. But now… First the Baltics were killed, then my little sister turns out to always have hated me, and my big sister was killed by my little sister. Right now, I want nothing more than to see Amodi crumble in defeat."

"I agree," Brazil said. "I'm one of the only five remaining South American nations. The other four are all Amodi members. And I… I heard that they didn't just _kill_ the others."

Brazil pulled his shirt down, revealing a large bruise on his shoulder.

"This is where Argentina had a taste of me," Brazil said. "They're crazy. And the other South Americans… Argentina, Peru, Chile and Venezuela… They _ate_ them."

Several of the other nations looked sick. Brazil shook his head.

"The only reason why I'm standing here is because they're hoping to use Portugal for something," Brazil said. "And they were using all of Portugal's old colonies to keep him in line. And his desire to protect us… Without wanting to, he gave them another ribbon. I've seen what they do to the nations under their control. There's this constant _fear_ that they'll hurt you or your family. They're stronger than they look, and will often grab us to remind us of that fact. And they tell you about what they're doing in your country. They tell you of the way your country is prospering under _their_ rule, but there's the subtle threat that the prosperity could turn to ruin, and…"

Brazil cut himself off, eyes blank and breathing heavy. He whimpered, before he hugged himself.

"Remember," China said. "You need to cut yourself off. Do you want me to teach you how?"

"I already know how to cut off _some_ things," Brazil said. "But I don't know how to do it completely… like Amodi."

"I'll teach you," China said, smiling. He then looked towards White. "What about you?"

"I don't think it's going to be necessary in her case," Norway said. "Israel wants her alive, and unharmed."

She flinched when Israel was mentioned, and Brazil instinctively moved closer to her.

"I'm familiar with that fear," Norway said. "My little brother is still one of their prisoners. But they won't do anything to him. They're afraid of inheriting his volcanoes. And they can't do anything to the Norwegian people. It would do them no good."

"Man, we need to finish this war as soon as possible," Turkey said. "We need to get things back to normal."

…

Italy and Poland walked into Liechtenstein's room. She cracked one eye open before she groaned.

"What happened?" Poland asked.

"We were going around, killing America's states," Liechtenstein said. "We managed to get New York and Vermont, but New Hampshire wasn't there. And we also knew that America was on his way, so we waited. He arrived, I shot one of his companions in the throat, and the other two fled, or so we thought. I shot America in strategic locations, but then the other two returned and shot me in the head. Thankfully they haven't learned to replicate our weapons yet. And America pushed his hand through Puerto Rico's chest and crushed his heart."

"And then you returned here?" Italy asked, to which Liechtenstein nodded.

"But it's troubling," Poland said. "America still has too much strength. If we want to be assured in our victory, he would need to go."

"Along with Russia and China," Italy said.

"I _did_ manage to get into his head a little," Liechtenstein said. "Show that he's not as 'heroic' as he thought. The way he killed Puerto Rico is proof enough of that."

"Breaking his spirit would definitely help us," Poland said. "But now we need to focus on breaking his body as well."

"He has quite a few bullet wounds," Liechtenstein said. "And he lost quite a bit of blood. It should take him a few days at least to be able to recover."

"That buys us _some_ time," Italy said. "But we need something that could last longer. Perhaps something that could end up killing him."

"Time to put our nukes to good use," Poland said.

"Wait," Italy said. "I've got a better idea. It _should_ keep America weakened for several weeks, if not a few months."

Poland raised an eyebrow.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

…

America sneezed, before he groaned. Louisiana glanced towards him before turning her eyes back to the road.

"Why do we have to bring… Jordan along?" Thailand asked.

Jordan's corpse was sprawled on top of Thailand, Pakistan and Massachusetts's laps, under Louisiana's orders. America was in the passenger seat due to his injuries, and Louisiana was driving.

"I told you," Louisiana said. "I need a test subject."

"I don't think I like that idea," America said.

"I need to see if it'll work, and I'll need to be inside my territory to see that."

"What you're planning… Tell me it's not bad."

"It's considered dark magic, and even England wouldn't approve of it," Massachusetts said. "But it's pretty common for voodoo."

"By the way, are there any African allies?" Louisiana asked.

America looked thoughtful.

"If they were successful, there's South Africa," Pakistan said. "But Africa is pretty much Amodi's domain."

Louisiana pouted.

"The only nations that might have had some appreciation for what I'm doing," Louisiana said.

"As long as you don't start a zombie apocalypse or something, I guess we'll give you a chance," America said.

Thailand and Pakistan exchanged a look. They weren't going to say what was on their minds.

…

Romania grinned. The time to start had begun. He just needed to be careful that he didn't mess anything up.

…

"Here we are," Belarus said.

Baltia looked up with wide eyes, holding the older nation's hand. They were in Cardiff, standing in front of Wales's townhouse.

"Is this a castle?" Baltia asked.

"No," Belarus said, smiling softly at the smaller nation. "But I hear that Wales _does_ have a few castles around."

Baltia nodded her head, and she followed Belarus as she went up to the door. Belarus knocked, and they didn't have to wait too long before Wales answered.

Wales immediately glanced towards Baltia, and he plastered a gentle smile on his face, before he crouched down to her level.

"Hello," Wales said. "And who might you be?"

Baltia shrank back slightly, before looking up at Belarus. The other Eastern European nodded, and Baltia looked back at Wales.

"Baltia," she said.

"Well, Baltia, I'm Wales," he said, holding out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Baltia squirmed, before looking up at Belarus when Belarus released her hand.

"He wants you to shake his hand," Belarus said. "It's a form of greeting."

Baltia nodded in understanding, before turning her attention back to Wales. She took his index finger and shook it, earning a chuckle from Wales.

"It's not _quite_ what I had in mind," he said.

Baltia started to relax slightly, seeing that Wales was pretty friendly.

"Will you be alright with Wales?" Belarus asked.

Baltia looked up at her and frowned.

"Why can't I stay with you?" she asked.

"Because I need to find others like you," Belarus said. "There are other nations – bad nations. Like my big brother, Russia."

At the mention of 'Russia', Baltia felt an indescribable fear coursing through her body, and she whimpered.

"Wales is going to take care of you while I look for the others," Belarus said. "You'll be getting a few brothers and sisters."

"Brothers?" Baltia asked. "Sisters? Really?"

"That's right," Wales said. "And I'll take care of you."

Baltia looked up at Belarus.

"Will you come to visit?" she asked.

"Of course," Belarus said. "Now, be good. Don't give Wales any problems or I'll be mad."

Baltia shook her head, and she and Wales watched as Belarus walked away.

"Now, little one," Wales said. "Would you like some ice-cream? I have some in my freezer."

"Ice-cream?" Baltia repeated, cocking her head to the side.

Wales smiled and stood, before he extended a hand to her. Baltia took it, and he guided her into the house, and towards the kitchen. Baltia kept examining the decorations inside, not really having been inside a house yet.

She had woken up in the middle of Riga, and she knew that there was no one for her nearby. There was one house in particular where she felt that something bad was there, though she didn't know what it was that unsettled her.

Wales helped her into a chair, before he went to the freezer. She watched him take out something, and he then took some out of the container and placed it in a bowl. He then gave her the bowl with a spoon.

She hesitated, before taking the spoon and scooping some of the substance into her mouth. Her eyes widened as the cold sweetness touched her tongue.

"It's good," she said, before she started eating more of it.

"Slow down," Wales said. "If you go too fast, you might get brain freeze. It can be quite painful. And the slower you eat, the longer you can eat."

Baltia looked up towards Wales and nodded, taking his warning to eat slowly. Wales smiled before ruffling her hair, and she giggled.

Perhaps she'd like living with Wales.

…

Romania smirked, seeing the buildings around. Italy had asked him to travel through the astral realm, and hopefully mess with their enemies' minds.

He found himself in what appeared to be a squatter camp, and he found the situation too funny. If this was the best their enemies could come up with in terms of a base, then they had nothing to worry about. He idly wondered if it had already existed before relocating to this location, or if they had built it upon arrival.

There was only one sturdy building, and he could tell that it was Asian in design, though he was unable to tell whether or not it was Chinese or Japanese. Even traditional styles tended to change through the centuries, and he had no idea how many centuries ago the structure was built.

He looked around, trying to find a decent building. He finally focused on one, and went through the wall. Since the astral realm was on another plane of existence, obstacles like walls didn't bother him.

There were three people in that particular building, and unfortunately, only one of them was sleeping.

White was sprawled on her back, sleeping soundly. Next to her slept Netherlands, who had his back turned to her. And on Netherlands's other side was Brazil, who had his back to Netherlands. Both of them were still wide awake.

Romania arched an eyebrow at the sight. He supposed that Israel would be happy to hear about this. But it was too bad. Netherlands and Brazil were two of his targets. He turned his attention to White.

It was fortunate that he couldn't be seen, except in someone's dreams. He smirked as he started to descend into the South African's mind.

…

Brazil hadn't been too happy when they had decided on final sleeping arrangements. He had offered to share a shack with White, and to his surprise, she had agreed. But then Netherlands had said that he would also be sharing with them, and White was alright with that idea as well.

And then Netherlands had to go and sleep between them. Or rather, that was how things would eventually be. Brazil knew that Netherlands was still awake, and he knew that Netherlands knew that he was awake as well.

This was so unfair!

He heard White moan in her sleep, and he briefly wondered what her face looked like, but he couldn't turn to see. And then he heard a whimper, and realised that she was probably having a nightmare.

He turned around, immediately seeing the glaring eyes of Netherlands. After a brief moment of shock, he propped himself up to see that White's face was twisted, as though she was having a nightmare.

"What are you doing?" Netherlands whispered. He didn't want to wake White.

"She's having a nightmare," Brazil whispered.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

Brazil shrugged.

"Fine," he said. "Just remember that if she starts thrashing, _you're_ the one she's going to kick."

Netherlands stared at Brazil for a while before he sighed, propping himself up. He gently shook White's shoulder.

"Anika," Netherlands said. "Wake up."

He continued to shake her before he frowned.

"That's strange," Netherlands said. "If I remember correctly, she's a light sleeper. Even while deep in a nightmare, she _should_ have woken up by now."

"I wonder what she's dreaming about," Brazil said. "It better not be about Israel."

…

White stared in horror as she was forced to watch Black getting executed. She could feel his blood on her face.

"This is what happens to nations that defy Amodi," a voice said. "Black was killed because he revealed information about us."

She heard a scream, and turned around to see Brazil, kneeling on the ground with his head bowed. Blood was dripping to the ground. A figure was standing over him, a gun pointed at the back of his head.

White tried to move, but it was as though her feet had frozen. The sound of the gunshot echoed around her, and her ears were ringing as Brazil's body slumped to the ground.

She heard a scream, and turned around. All of the nations that weren't members of Amodi were lying on the ground, an ocean of blood around them. Some of them were facedown, while others were staring at the sky with blank eyes.

She felt arms wrapping around her frame, resting below her chest. She could feel someone's breath against her ear.

"You were a lot safer with Amodi," a voice whispered, and she realised that it was Israel's. "We will find you, and you will watch all of them die. But if you return, we'll spare some of them. The ones you care for most."

White clenched her eyes. She couldn't choose.

"I love you," Israel said. "I don't want to hurt you. If you return to me, I will keep you safe for all eternity."

White shook her head. She would be nothing more than a prisoner.

…

White's eyes snapped open, and she had started to cry. Netherlands and Brazil were worried.

"Anika, it's fine," Netherlands said. "Don't worry about it."

White turned her attention to Netherlands, before she launched herself at him. Netherlands wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his chest.

…

Romania was watching the three nations again. White had to regret escaping from Amodi. And she needed to have a reason to return to Israel. She needed to have a reason to comply with Israel. To behave.

Fearing that everyone would die because of her, she would do whatever it took to prevent that from happening.

Now, Romania just needed to focus his attention on one of the others.

…

Switzerland watched the little nation as he admired the scenery around him. It was a few hours after he had found him, and it had been relatively easy to convince him to go with him.

The new nation was called Frenia, and he had inherited Spain's energy. Switzerland was pleased. Having someone like that being compliant to them would certainly inspire cooperation from the others. Though he felt sorry for Wales, who would have to manage the little nation.

"Here we are," Switzerland said, coming to a stop.

Frenia turned to him with his head cocked to the side, and he turned his attention to the house that Switzerland was watching.

"Is your friend there?" Frenia asked.

"Yes," Switzerland said. "And he's going to be acting as your big brother."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that he's going to take care of you," Switzerland said. "He's going to protect you from all the nations that would want to harm you."

"Why would they want to hurt me?" Frenia asked. "I didn't do anything to them."

"To them, it doesn't matter," Switzerland said. "Take America for example. He's extremely selfish, and he completely crushed most of the potential nations in his continent."

"Crushed?" Frenia asked, afraid.

"They ceased to exist."

Frenia looked afraid, and Switzerland smiled reassuringly.

"Wales and I will make sure that it never happens," Switzerland said.

Frenia nodded, and he couldn't imagine what kind of monster this 'America' could be.

 **A lot of the traditional African cultures have shamans/witchdoctors. In South Africa, we call them sangomas. And their methods are pretty much what one could describe as voodoo. My dad once asked a colleague if he forgot to drink his anti-voodoo medication. My dad's a magistrate, and in a lot of cases, the accused or their families would employ sangomas. My dad's been poisoned once or twice, and it's suggested you keep a lookout for ropes tied around the trees in front of your house. My dad's colleague said that when he opened his garage door, he was greeted with the decapitated head of a snake. So, Louisiana was lamenting the fact that no one among the allies would have an appreciation for her type of magic.**

 **Since White is currently Netherlands's only family who's safe, he wants to protect her. And he's not blind to Brazil's affections towards her. Poor Brazil has to deal with a papa wolf.**

 **I really enjoyed writing Baltia and Frenia's scenes. They're so cute!**


	91. Chapter 90

**Thanks to Shattering Colors, Elsa, Civilreader, StuffyJinx, pastaaddict, CheesecakeKittyCat, ScandinavianTrash, Alllans and SuperSwanky69 for reviewing.**

 **I'm sorry! Our internet is down, and we have no idea when it would be fixed. I have class on Tuesday, so if it's a long, drawn-out process, updates will be on Tuesday.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 90**

Romania couldn't do anything further to the occupants of that shack. All three of them were awake, but at least he had gotten to one of them.

He left that shack and went to the next one. It was one of the larger ones. And once he was inside, he understood why.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to _check_ …

He couldn't do too much. There was already something else in place, and he wouldn't want to interfere with all that hard work.

But, perhaps a _nudge_ …

…

America yawned, before rubbing his eyes.

"Man, I'm so tired," America said.

"It's understandable," Louisiana said. "You've been working throughout the night, and with that battle you've had with Liechtenstein…"

"Um… I wouldn't call it a _battle_ ," America said embarrassedly.

"You should probably get some sleep."

"But… I can't leave you to…"

"These two are already asleep," Massachusetts said, indicating Thailand and Pakistan.

"It's fine," Louisiana said. "You need to get your strength back. That way, you can help your states too."

"But…" America tried.

"Sleep," Massachusetts said. "We'll take care of you."

"Don't make us hex you or anything," Louisiana said.

"Technically, _I_ perform the hex. You…"

"You know what I meant!"

America smiled as the two bickered, before he yawned again. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps he _should_ sleep. He closed his eyes, smile still on his face.

…

"That's good news," San Marino said, on the phone with Switzerland. "Belarus reported that she also found and delivered a new nation to Wales."

"I know," Switzerland said. "I saw her there. She's definitely Baltic. So, any idea where I should look next?"

"Let me check," San Marino said, staring at the map in front of him, tracking their progress. Italy had lent it to him. "Um, you can check in the Middle East, around Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq… Basically, check the south of that area. The north is still largely enemy territory."

"What's Belarus doing?"

"She went to the former Yugoslavia. See if there's someone there."

"What about others?"

"Well, Africa is out. And South America is out as well. And we don't have enough territory in Asia. The former Mongolia perhaps. But Malaysia is… Well, there's no one _left_ there."

"So, no reason to have a nation."

"Exactly."

"Alright, so I'll go see if I can find anyone in the Middle East."

"Wait, one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Liechtenstein was injured. Either Thailand or Pakistan shot her in the head. She wasn't sure which."

Switzerland was quiet for a moment.

"Thank you for telling me," Switzerland said. "I assume they're with America?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Do me a favour? Send a bomber to their capitals."

"Alright."

…

Switzerland hung up the phone, a little mad, but not too much. His protectiveness of Liechtenstein had been a mask, but he still cared for her. And he didn't like the fact that she was hurt.

But he wouldn't actively try to avenge her. He knew that she wouldn't like it. But if it was part of something that was already ongoing, then she wouldn't have a problem with it.

Instead, he had other things to worry about. He needed to see if there was a new nation in the former Middle East. Now that the area wasn't directly under Egypt's control, there _would_ probably be someone.

He supposed it was lucky that their enemies weren't aware of what was happening yet. That there were heirs to the nations killed. Or they were so selfish that the thought hadn't crossed their minds.

Either way, they would be able to achieve quite a lot before they grew wise to their latest plan.

…

Romania left the shack with a smile on his face. Everything should go well there.

He went to the next shack, seeing Russia sprawled on his back, two children curled up on either side of him. Romania's face twisted in disgust as he recognised one of them.

Transnistria. A stain that shouldn't have existed. He was intruding on his little brother's land.

Well, Romania had a target that he needn't keep alive. And he had _so_ wanted to deal with him. And there was no better opportunity than that.

…

Greece's eyes snapped open, the nightmare still fresh in his mind. He looked around, feeling sick to his stomach.

He was sharing a shack with Turkey and Cyprus. He shouldn't be with Turkey. He shouldn't be anywhere _near_ Turkey. And Cyprus…

No. he wasn't safe. Not with _them_.

He looked down at his hands, knowing the potential that lay therein. He just needed to use it.

He looked at the other two with him. He was sleeping next to Cyprus with Turkey on Cyprus's other side. It would be better to get to Turkey, but by choosing to follow him, Cyprus was just as guilty.

Earlier, he had found a small scrap of metal amongst the materials that White and China had retrieved. It was small enough to hide in his clothes, and sharp enough to cut through skin. It was ideal for what he needed.

He removed the shard as he rolled himself onto Cyprus's body, straddling the other's waist and pinning his arms to his body. Greece quickly pressed his hand against Cyprus's mouth, clamping the nose in order to smother him as well. Cyprus's eyes popped open, surprise and fear in his eyes.

Greece said nothing as he used his free hand to cut away Cyprus's shirt with the sharp metal. He needed access to Cyprus's skin.

Cyprus was struggling underneath Greece, but the other wasn't bothered. Wordlessly, he pierced the metal through Cyprus's skin. The younger nation screamed in pain as Greece started to drag the metal down. It wasn't the sharpest ever, but as long as it could get the job done…

He needed to get rid of anyone that posed a threat to him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Turkey shouted, tackling Greece.

Greece was caught off-guard, and was pushed off of Cyprus, though the metal shard was caught in the momentum, tearing through the skin at an awkward angle and earning another pained scream from Cyprus.

Greece tried to push Turkey off of him, and Turkey was surprised by Greece's strength. There was only one thing to do.

Turkey pressed his one hand against Greece's mouth and nose, while the other one was wrapped around Greece's throat. His intention was to suffocate Greece to the point of passing out, and then they would think of what to do.

It took a while for Greece to pass out. Turkey checked to make sure that he was still alive (and even if he wasn't, it wouldn't be permanent) before turning to Cyprus.

"Are you alright?" Turkey asked.

Cyprus nodded, looking a little shaken. His hand was pressed against the wound on his chest, and Turkey moved closer to check on it.

"What happened?" Cyprus asked.

"I think that whatever Egypt did to him kicked in," Turkey said. "Come on. China has a first-aid kit. You need to get that patched up."

Turkey looked over towards the metal shard with a disgusted look.

"At least he didn't seem to know about the daggers I have in my bag," Turkey said.

…

Romania saw Turkey and Cyprus leaving their shack, and he sneered. It would seem that Greece had failed. Though, judging by the red invading Cyprus's shirt, he at least _tried_.

But now he was curious to see how things played out. What would they do regarding a brainwashed Greece?

Romania shrugged, deciding to go to the next shack. He had a mission to accomplish.

…

Moldova shuddered. Something was _very_ wrong.

Bulgaria was making dinner for all of them (there was no way they would allow Iceland to do that), and so there was still some time. Moldova had to find out the truth.

He made his way to Finland and Romania's room, where the two spent most of their time. He needed to know something.

Romania appeared to be asleep, while Finland was keeping a vigil. Finland turned to the door, as though sensing Moldova, and he stared at him blankly.

"I-I want to know something," Moldova said.

"What is it?" Finland asked.

Moldova swallowed thickly.

"Transnistria… Did you do something to him?"

Finland raised an eyebrow.

"I know nothing about that," Finland said. "But it's part of our policy to eliminate the regions. We don't want to repeat a certain disadvantage."

Moldova flinched, knowing that Transnistria would indeed be in danger. So he turned his attention to Romania.

"Is he alright?" he asked worriedly.

"He's fine," Finland said, smiling. "He's just been working on something that made him lose quite a bit of sleep. I'm making sure he actually _gets_ sleep."

Moldova nodded, reading the atmosphere. Finland was telling him to leave, but was happy that he was at least worried.

"Um, I'll go now," Moldova said quickly, making a hasty retreat.

There was no denying it. Transnistria was dead. And there was nothing he could do about it.

…

Romania entered the next shack and smirked. Oh, this was great.

Slovenia and Serbia. And Serbia was twitching and whimpering in his sleep, as though he was having a nightmare. Which meant that he was almost healed from the lobotomy.

Although Romania would have loved to see events unfold, there wasn't much that he could do. And so, smirk still in place, he went on to the next shack.

…

China grumbled when he was woken up, and he fixed his glare on Turkey, before seeing the state Cyprus was in, and the red shirt that he was sure had been white earlier.

"What happened?" China asked in alarm, getting out of his bed.

"Whatever Amodi's been feeding Greece has finally caught up to him," Turkey said. "He tried to kill him."

"Shit," China muttered, getting to work on lighting a lantern or two. "Sit down. I'll just get the kit."

Turkey nodded, helping Cyprus onto the bed. It was alarming to see how pale he was.

"What did you do to Greece?" China asked when he returned, putting the kit down and opening it.

"I knocked him out," Turkey said.

China nodded in approval.

"You would need to restrain him or something," China said. "Before he wakes up."

"I guess you're right," Turkey said, leaving China to his work.

…

Norway smiled fondly. He knew that it was a dream, but it was still good to see.

The fjords… How long had it been since he'd seen them? It was his land. His pride and joy. But ever since being separated from them, he felt a sorrow that he had never thought could have been possible.

"Prussia was the one who suggested it."

Norway turned to see England, and he nodded his head.

"Tell him I appreciate it," Norway said. "And that I know how he must have felt."

England nodded his head.

"Australia and New Zealand are in the same boat as you," England said. "The only difference is, I can't go to them to help them."

"Only someone with magic could speak to the living," Norway said. "And only with someone else who also has magic."

"Well, if America's side is successful, it shouldn't be a problem for much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"We will see what voodoo can do."

Norway nodded his head, trying to figure out how _America_ would have access to something like that.

"One of his states," England said, as though reading Norway's mind. "Louisiana. She unfortunately has French influence."

Norway nodded, and listened as England explained what was happening on America's end. Norway was a little unsure, but it _could_ offer them _some_ help. Probably.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Norway asked.

"Amodi has started with something they call 'Operation Legacy'," England said. "Those nations they killed… They have heirs."

"What?" Norway asked, eyes wide. "And… are they…?"

"They're not killing them," England said, and Norway sighed in relief. "They're just raising them to be loyal to them. So far, they've gathered two. The first one is called Baltia, and is the combined Baltic nations. Then the second is Frenia, which is what's left of Spain, France and Andorra's lands. He looks like their _child_."

Norway smiled, trying to picture that, before he frowned.

"Who's looking after them?" Norway asked worriedly. If it was Finland…

"Wales," England said. "We're the ones that pushed him over the edge. He's regressed back to a personality from before he became part of the United Kingdom. And he wouldn't harm a child. It seems they knew what they were doing when they entrusted _him_ with the future nations."

Norway nodded his head. Considering the fact that Wales was the one that killed him, to hear England _approving_ of Wales being in charge of the new generation was somewhat reassuring. But they would probably need to save them.

"Since their lands belong to Amodi," England said, "if you try to take them away, they will die."

"Unless one of their number is gone," Norway said.

"You can _try_ , but it would be risky. These new nations… They have a rather large landmass, all things considered. And they were born under Amodi."

"They wouldn't trust us if we tried to save them," Norway said, understanding what England was trying to say. "And there's a chance that _we_ could hurt them. _Because_ they were born under Amodi."

"For now, it's a lot safer to stay away from them." England suddenly tensed with wide eyes. "That's not good."

"What?"

"Romania is using astral projection. He's in the camp."

Norway's eyes widened, knowing what it meant. If Romania was there…

"He can only affect those that are sleeping," England said. "You need to wake them all up."

Norway nodded his head, and he knew that it was his cue to wake up as well.

…

Romania was on his way to the next shack when he came to a stop, staring at the nations gathered around. All of the _dead_ nations.

Right. The dead had access to the astral realm.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Romania asked with a smirk. "It must certainly sting, watching over them and unable to do a thing."

"Shut up!" Hungary snapped, producing a sword.

It seemed that in the afterlife, her weapon of choice was a sword, and not the frying pan. She stormed at Romania, but he didn't move, smirk widening.

Hungary's eyes widened when she simply went through Romania.

"The dead have access to the astral realm," Romania said. "And those using astral projection can interact with the dead. However, the dead can't interfere with the living. Not even here. And only the souls of the dead that possessed magic in life can interact with the living, and only with those that possess magic as well. That's how they get their information, isn't it? You're telling Norway."

"Stay away from him," Denmark snarled, holding his axe ready.

Romania had to laugh at the feeble attempt.

"That's not going to do a thing," Romania said.

Denmark smirked.

"It's buying Norge some time," Denmark said.

Romania was confused for a moment, before his eyes widened. Norway was awake, and he was going around, waking up the other nations. Romania growled in annoyance, before he smirked.

"No matter," Romania said. "I believe I've done quite a bit of damage. Well, I'll take my leave now. Just know that I won't fall for this a second time."

And Romania turned and left.

…

Finland turned to Romania when he heard movement, and he could see that Romania was waking up. Or rather, that he was returning from his journey.

Romania's eyes popped open and he gasped, as though he had been underwater for a long time and only just managed to breach the surface for fresh air. Finland had been warned that this might happen, and so he waited patiently for Romania to recover.

Romania's breathing was rapid, and his eyes wandered around, as though he didn't know where he was. His eyes finally landed on Finland, and recognition returned as his breathing calmed down. Romania closed his eyes, swallowing thickly.

"Did you have any problems?" Finland asked worriedly.

"Nothing too big," Romania said, still a little breathless. "Iceland was right. Ghosts _are_ telling Norway everything. I saw Sweden and Denmark."

Finland's face twisted in distaste.

"Even in death, they interfere with everything," Finland said.

"Netherlands and Brazil were unfortunately awake," Romania said. "I couldn't mess with their minds. But I _did_ plant a few seeds in South Africa's mind. And Greece's brainwashing does appear to bear fruits, but unfortunately he wasn't successful. And while I was at it, I got rid of Transnistria."

"Moldova asked me about that," Finland said. "He must have sensed it. Also, he was very worried about you when I made the excuse that you were simply exhausted after overworking yourself."

Romania seemed surprised for a moment before he smiled, happy that his brother still cared for him. Finland, in turn, was happy that Romania was safe. But the lack of success told him that he would need to do this again.

…

"Explain again," Turkey said.

Norway sighed. Everyone that was awake was sitting in a circle in the middle of the camp.

"Romania was using astral projection," Norway said. "It allows you to leave your body and travel great distances. The only ones that you can interact with are those that are asleep."

Netherlands and Brazil looked over towards White, who shivered at the implication.

"Let me guess," Netherlands said. "He can give us nightmares while doing that."

"Yes," Norway said. "And those nightmares may contain ideas. And unfortunately, it's also possible to kill someone in their nightmares."

"So, who else has had nightmares?" China asked.

No one spoke up, and White narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Is it possible that he figured out where we are?" Russia asked.

"No," Norway said. "You can either focus on a location or a person, given you have enough information. Romania would have focused on one of us, so he wouldn't be able to figure out where we are. Unless he recognises the style of China's house."

"I doubt it," China said. "That style has been outdated since before I found _Japan_."

"In other words, we're safe," Norway said.

"Let's hope so," Netherlands sighed.


	92. Chapter 91

**Thanks to Pink Tourmaline, Shattering Colors, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Skye Phoenix Dove, Elsa, Terra, ScandinavianTrash, Little Bird 8060, Civilreader, pastaaddict, CheesecakeKittyCat, topaz3 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Okay, so we've found a temporary solution in the form of a prepaid router. This is for when our internet is down on the landline, like now. Still waiting for them to fix it (especially considering we're still paying for it).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 91**

Russia returned to his shack, a little disturbed by the news that Norway had given them all. Not even their dreams were safe.

He looked towards the two children that were still asleep. When Norway had went around waking up as many of them as possible, Russia had been worried about the two of them. And after hearing what Norway had to say, he had asked about the ones that were still asleep. Norway assured him that it was easier to perform astral projection if many were asleep. The fact that many of them had been awoken had weakened the power, and Norway had told him that by the time he arrived at Russia's shack, Romania's presence was gone.

Therefore, there had been no need to wake the children. There would be no reason to concern them.

Russia was about to try and figure out how to get between the two when he noticed something. He could hear only one set of heavy breathing.

Remembering what Norway had said, Russia first turned to Vilnius. He could see her body move as she breathed, and he was relieved, before turning to Transnistria, and there he didn't see anything.

He crouched down next to the boy, his gloveless hand going towards the mouth and nose. No breath. He then placed his hand on the boy's pulse point, hoping to find something.

Nothing.

…

Wales sighed in frustration, trying to think of what to do. It was time for the children to sleep, but while Baltia had gone to bed willingly, Frenia was being a pain.

But it was clear the boy was tired. He was just at the stage where he was so tired that he became hyper.

"Non!" Frenia said. "I don't want to sleep!"

"You need to," Wales said. "Please."

"Non! I'm not cansado!"

Wales had noticed early on that Frenia had a tendency to lace his speech with French or Spanish, but he wasn't sure if Frenia even realised it. It was the same way his brothers used to lace their own speech with their respective languages, and the same with the colonies, so Wales expected it to happen. He would _not_ be like England and punish the children for doing that. At least he knew a little French and Spanish. And at least Baltia hasn't done the same thing yet, because he didn't think that he would be able to handle that.

"Do you want me to give you some milk?" Wales asked.

Frenia cocked his head to the side, and Wales knew that the younger nation was too young to have all of the knowledge that eventually came with being a nation. They had an instinctive knack for it, it just took them a while.

Perhaps Plato was right, at least when it came with nations. With humans, the debate was still alive.

"Warm milk is nice to drink," Wales said. "Come on."

Frenia watched him as he prepared a glass of milk, before handing it to Frenia. It wasn't too hot, and Frenia stared at it for a while before he started to drink.

Wales was pleased to see Frenia drinking it all, and the child put the glass down when he was done.

"It's good," Frenia said, before he yawned.

"Are you tired _now_?" Wales asked.

"Non, I…"

Frenia yawned again, and Wales went to pick him up. Frenia wrapped his arms around Wales's neck as the Welshman carried him to the bed he had arranged for him. When he had placed the boy on the bed, he was fast asleep.

"Sweet dreams," Wales whispered, ruffling the child's hair.

…

Italy drummed his fingers on the table, phone pressed against his ear. On the other side was Romania, reporting on the events of that night.

"So, what you're saying is that you didn't accomplish much," Italy said.

"Give me a break," Romania said. "It takes a lot of energy. I have to wait at least two days before I attempt it again."

"And two days would be too much. You killed a region, you nudged a brainwashed nation into attacking, and then he failed. The only good news is that you've managed to play with South Africa's mind, but will it convince her to return to Israel?"

"I've planted the seeds in her subconscious, and even the smallest seed can have a huge impact. We've already established that with all our experiments on indoctrination. She will return to Israel because she will fear that if she doesn't, everyone she cares for will be killed."

Italy hummed, having to agree with what Romania said.

"It's unfortunate that you haven't managed to get to anyone else," Italy said. "Like Netherlands."

"Actually, I have a theory about that," Romania said. "South Africa, Netherlands and Brazil were sharing a… I'm not entirely sure what to call it."

"Say it's a dwelling."

"Fine. The three were sharing one, but South Africa was asleep, with Netherlands between her and Brazil. Brazil was on his side, facing away from Netherlands, and Netherlands was on his side as well, facing the same direction as Brazil. Now, my theory is that Netherlands is aware of Brazil's feelings for South Africa – and if they know that the first thing he did after escaping us was saving her, then it was rather obvious. Netherlands is basically acting as any father would act when a boy is interested in his daughter."

Italy smirked.

"He's protective of her," he said. "Something he doesn't show too often, if at all. It's possible that our plan is working. Dutch is becoming more prominent in Indonesia and South Africa, while the other three islands are conversing in Dutch with Belgium and even Luxembourg, their aunt and uncle. The ties between Netherlands and his old colonies are strengthening, and when we finally claim him, he wouldn't have room to resist us." Italy chuckled. "I'd say _that_ is good news. But next time, don't fall for anything. Norway would probably be prepared for next time."

"I know."

"Rest now, and try again in a few days."

"Thank you."

The call was disconnected, and Italy groaned. Romania had warned him that this method was tricky, but he had hoped that there would have been _more_ results. Or perhaps he was so ignorant of the whole thing, and he should be happy of the results they _had_ gotten.

Poland entered the room, carrying two mugs of cappuccino. Italy smiled happily as he accepted one of them.

"How did Romania do?" Poland asked.

"It could have gone better," Italy sighed. "At least there's _something_."

"And something is better than nothing. There's nothing pressing to do in the meantime, is there?"

"Not really. Since we don't know where they are, we can't attack. We can continue with their countries, but… And the South Americans are handling the Oceanic nations, Philippines and the Koreas are dealing with the rest of the Asians, Mexico and Confederacy are recovering from their encounter with a volcano goddess, the grand majority of Africa is still as it should be, Canada… Do you think we should assign something to Canada?"

"If he's feeling up to it," Poland said, shrugging. "Perhaps he would like to do something about Egypt's killers."

"Well, he already killed the ones that actually killed him. But maybe he would want to do something about the others. Especially since Greece failed."

Poland winced, before he sipped his cappuccino.

"We'll ask Canada if there's something that he would want to do," Poland said. "Switzerland, Belarus and Wales are working on Operation Legacy."

"And Liechtenstein's recovering from her previous mission," Italy said. "I think we can take it easy, at least for a little while."

"But at the same time, we don't want to become too comfortable and let down our guard."

"Exactly."

…

Just when Norway was preparing to go to bed again, Russia stormed into his room, looking livid. Norway tensed, knowing that an angry Russia was never a good thing.

Norway was grabbed by the front of his shirt and pulled towards Russia. The Northern European could see the Eastern European's eyes were red, and he knew that he was in a lot of trouble.

"We should have woken them," Russia said. "Transnistria… He's dead. I thought you said that it was safe now."

"I-it _w-was_ ," Norway stuttered. "He… I think… There's a possibility that he was a-already dead."

" _You_ were the one that said that we can leave the children alone. That Romania is gone, and there's nothing to worry about anymore."

Norway flinched.

"I… I'm sorry," Norway said. "I didn't realise… I wasn't warned…"

"But it's too late now," Russia said. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hurt you."

"B-because I'm not a n-nation anymore. I-I don't heal as fast. I-if you hurt me, you might kill me. And you lose all means of learning information about the enemies."

Russia glared at him before letting go. Norway backed up a few steps, looking at Russia with wide eyes.

"We should have woken them," Russia said coldly.

"If he was already dead before I was warned, then it wouldn't have helped," Norway said. "I could ask."

"And I wouldn't know whether you were speaking the truth or not," Russia said.

"In the name of self-preservation, I would not lie."

Russia stared at him for a long time before nodding.

"If there _was_ a way to save him, then I _will_ hold you responsible," Russia said, before stalking off.

Norway slumped onto the bed, and Michoacán's pet came up beside him, trying to comfort him. He absentmindedly scratched it behind its head.

"I wonder how he would act if he found out that the Baltics have a replacement," he mused. "He would be either really happy, or really angry."

…

Michoacán curled up as another hunger pang hit her. As promised, Canada was leaving her there to rot, only coming to see whether or not she was still there.

She wished that she had Cortez with her. Then perhaps he might have picked the locks and she would be free. However, she didn't know whether or not Canada would be able to see him, in which case, it would have been a useless venture.

She was really starting to gain respect for Quebec. After all, how long had _he_ been forced to endure this?

And then there was the fact that Canada wanted to kill him, like he killed the other provinces. And on that note, she had no idea about the other Mexican states and whether or not they were still alive. And she didn't want to ask Canada, because his answer would probably be that they _were_ dead, regardless of whether or not it was true.

Things were just horrible. She hated being a damsel in distress, but at the same time she hoped that _someone_ could save her. That Norway could tell the others about where she was, and they could save her like they hopefully saved Greece.

Given that Canada was angry and that Egypt was nowhere to be seen, she hoped that it meant they _were_ indeed successful, and not that Egypt was somewhere else, doing something else.

…

Sri Lanka was cowering underneath the floorboards as he heard the three Amodi nations above him. The trapdoor was hidden, and he hoped that it remained that way.

"Come on, Sri Lanka," South Korea said. "We only want to play a little."

"Maldives was a lot friendlier than you," North Korea said.

Sri Lanka tensed when he heard Maldives's name. It meant that they had most likely killed him, like they were killing his people.

"We know you're here," Philippines said. "You weren't at your coastal house."

Sri Lanka closed his eyes and placed his hand on his mouth, trying to stifle any potential sounds. They would need to think that he wasn't there and leave. That perhaps he was at his boss's house, or…

"Your boss said that you'd be here," Philippines said. "Right before we executed him."

He had to hold in a whimper. He needed them to leave. He didn't know how long he could hold out.

He jumped when he heard a firearm being fired, and he stared with wide eyes at the hole above him. He then looked down to see that the bullet had almost hit his ankle.

"Looks like it's open space down there," North Korea said. "There must be a trapdoor or something."

Sri Lanka panicked, and he started to back up in the small cellar, mindful not to bump into anything. If he could just find a good enough hiding space…

He heard them moving around upstairs, and he only hoped that the trapdoor remained hidden. However…

He bit his lip when the trapdoor was opened, and instead of climbing down the ladder, South Korea jumped down. He looked around for a while before his eyes landed on Sri Lanka's hiding spot, and he grinned.

"Found you."

…

Australia and New Zealand looked towards the door when it opened, and Wy stepped in, closing the door behind her. Ever since she became a nation, she had gone through a growth spurt, becoming at least a head taller than she used to be.

New Zealand was surprised when she handed a hairbrush to him, and they saw that she had a small bag in her other hand.

"You were always good at doing my hair," she said. "I think it's time for a new style. I'm counting on you to pick a new one for me."

He looked surprised before he nodded, and she sat down on the floor in front of him. New Zealand glanced over towards Australia before he started running the brush through her hair.

Times like these… things were almost normal.

…

Hong Kong was pacing nervously as Tibet and Laos meditated. Hong Kong knew that Amodi would target China in some way, and after their little torture session, they hadn't done anything again. It was driving him crazy, knowing that they would do something, but not having any idea of _when_ it might be.

And then they had to worry about Laos's grand prophetic dream. They had learned through Italy that Egypt had been killed, with Canada enraged. It was at that moment that Laos realised that it was the blizzard from his dream.

The red spider web with broken threads… It had happened before. And the fire, followed by bloody rivers – Liechtenstein, and her revenge on America. And the blizzard was Canada's rage, and he would destroy everything in his path.

That just left the broken mirror, which meant…

Twins.

Twin nations. At first, they figured that it might mean either North or South Korea would die, but then they realised something else. While not technically being twins, there was also North and South Italy. And Canada and America, though only one of them was a member of Amodi.

There were too many possibilities, and none of them good. If even one of those nations died…

Laos predicted that if the broken mirror should come to pass, then the destruction that would follow would be unparalleled with anything the world has ever seen.

At that moment, Laos and Tibet were hoping for another prediction, and were using meditation and self-hypnosis to accomplish that. Hong Kong hoped that they would be able to find something useful, preferably something that would prevent any more deaths.

Laos's eyes snapped open and he gasped. Tibet cracked one eye open, and once he saw that Laos had indeed seen something, he relaxed his posture and both eyes were opened.

"What did you see?" Tibet asked.

Laos looked around between the other two before he sighed.

"I heard the crying of babies," Laos said. "And I heard these words: What has been lost would be returned, but not in one piece."

"What does _that_ mean?" Hong Kong asked, walking closer.

"I don't know," Laos said. "But I think it's Amodi's enemies that are trying to recover that which has been lost."

"Let's hope that it can help bring an end to all this bloodshed," Tibet sighed.

…

Thailand cried out in pain, jerking awake. Massachusetts glanced towards him, seeing the other panting desperately, wincing every now and again in pain.

"What's wrong?" Massachusetts asked.

"Bangkok," Thailand gasped. "They're attacking it."

A moment later, Pakistan also cried out in pain, waking up as well and clutching at his heart. America groaned, before he turned back to face them.

"What's going on?" America asked.

"Was your capital also attacked?" Massachusetts asked.

"Yeah," Pakistan said. "Wait, 'also'?"

Thailand groaned in pain, answering Pakistan's question.

"Why are they doing this _now_?" Thailand asked.

"I'm guessing because of Liechtenstein," America said. "I mean, you _did_ manage to hurt her. And it wasn't a fatal bullet."

"In other words, she could easily recover and order an attack on those that injured her," Louisiana said. "This sucks."

"No kidding," America said. "So, how long before we get there?"

Louisiana smirked.

" _Now_."

They saw a few houses coming closer, and once they were close enough, it became clear that the buildings had seen better days. The town was overgrown, but otherwise it looked fine. Though they couldn't help but feel the hair at the back of their necks standing on end.

Louisiana parked the car, turning towards the others with a grin.

"Welcome to Laurel Valley," she said. "Ever since the war started, tourism has gone down, so we wouldn't have to worry about anyone coming over here. Now, there is _some_ ghostly activity," she glanced towards America, "but they're harmless. And besides, considering what we're going to do, ghosts aren't going to be a problem, and will in fact be very welcome."

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" America asked nervously, a hint of hysteria in his voice.

"Please, make yourselves at home, and don't worry about anything. Tonight, we'll start with my plan, and we'll show Amodi what voodoo can do."

 **I would have been raised trilingual if it wasn't for the fact that I was placed in day care, and that asides from the few Afrikaans words (and maybe English) I might have known back then, I laced my speech with Portuguese. It's to do with children associating words with things, but they don't know the different languages yet, and for them, it's one and the same. Frenia knows how to communicate, but he doesn't know that there are different languages, and he still needs to build his vocabulary. Synonyms aren't an issue yet, and the words he uses are the first things he associates with something.**

 **I think it was Plato that said that everyone has all the knowledge inside them, they just need something to trigger it. I can't quite remember, and I don't have the time to look through my notes – which was actually articles our lecturer gave us. At my university, just about every field of study has a WV_S subject, with WV being 'world views' and the S being 'sciences'. The third letter varies, depending on what you study. Science has N, Commerce has E, Humanities has C and L (WVCS is in the second year, while WVLS is in third year). Since I started with a different major before settling on languages, I already had such a subject, so I was exempt from WVCS, but I still had to take WVLS. Anyway, it's basically philosophy that's focused on your field, and the innatism (which is the theory I'm referring to) was discussed, as being that all knowledge is preprogrammed into your brain, you just have to unlock it. There's this one story around here that a man started speaking fluent Russian after being in a car accident, and there are other cases where people woke up from comas speaking foreign languages fluently. There** _ **might**_ **be something there.**

 **And no, Wales didn't drug Frenia. He was already tired, and just needed a push, like warm milk.**


	93. Chapter 92

**Thanks to Terra, CivilReader2, ScandinavianTrash, pastaaddict, Pink Tourmaline, CheesecakeKittyCat and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 92**

Norway sighed, absently petting Michoacán's pet. He had actually gotten around to asking England if the creature had a name.

It was the next morning, and he would need to inform the others about _everything_. He would need to tell Russia that Transnistria had already been killed by the time Norway had been told of Romania's activities. And he knew that it would be difficult for Russia to hear.

Not to mention that he would need to tell them about the new nations. They had the right to know. He just wondered how they might react to the news. There was a possibility that they would be hostile regarding the information. After all, those children were the product of Amodi's regime. They would be unwelcome, and would serve as proof that Amodi had done a lot of damage.

However, England informed him that their predecessors had asked that they not be killed or anything. The nations wanted the little ones to take their places. They wanted their legacy to live on.

"Cortez," Norway said, "wish me luck."

…

Louisiana was busy getting everything ready. The others had found houses for themselves and settled in them, going to sleep.

It was a bit dusty, but it was better than nothing. And they had plenty of time to make this town a better place. And perhaps it could serve as another base for the other nations.

It was decided that it would be safer for the other states to be separated. They would need to have their own shelters, and they needed to establish a means of communication to inform them that everything was still alright.

Perhaps America would be willing to lend them Liberty for this purpose.

Louisiana looked over towards the corpse of Jordan. Once the sun set, they would be able to see if her plan would work.

…

"So, a lot happened last night," Picardy said.

The nations were all gathered together for breakfast. Those that had been woken in the midnight hours filled the others in on what had happened.

Norway had already told Russia that Transnistria had already been dead by the time they had all woken. Russia had gone to sit to the side, with Vilnius being the only one willing to approach him.

"There's also something else," Norway said. "Something that England told me."

"What is it?" Vietnam asked.

Norway hesitated for a moment, before he sighed.

"The nations that were killed by Amodi," Norway started. "They have heirs."

"What do you mean?" Turkey asked.

"New nations to take the place of the old ones," Norway said. "They take some of the land for themselves, but there are areas which are unclaimed by a single member, though a part of their territory. Provinces, if you will. These provinces have someone to represent them now."

"And let me guess," Gibraltar said. "They started killing these provinces."

Norway shook his head.

"They decided to raise them," Norway said. "Regions that would manage their people. By having them compliant, then their people wouldn't give them any problems."

"In other words, they're being manipulated by Amodi," Netherlands said.

Norway nodded.

"They already have two of them under their care," he said. "The combined lands of Spain, France and Andorra, named Frenia, and the merged Baltic nations, named Baltia."

"Merged Baltics?" Russia asked, stepping closer.

Vilnius was clinging to Russia's coat, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Yes," Norway said. "And the deceased nations would prefer it if we _don't_ do anything to harm any of the children."

"Did they think we _would_?" White asked.

Norway didn't answer, instead glancing around. Turkey eventually sighed.

"It's not exactly wrong," Turkey said. "After all, they were born from Amodi's influence. They replaced our friends. It's not too strange to think that we might have decided that these kids don't deserve to live. After all, they have no right to replace the nations we knew. But… In the end, they're innocent kids who've ended up being our enemies' puppets. It would be unfair to try to hurt them, and it would probably make us _worse_ than Amodi."

"Considering the fact that they left the children with Wales, I would agree," Norway said.

"Wales?" White asked, before nodding. "Yeah. He adores kids. Whenever England would lose his patience with any of us, Wales was usually the one that took care of us while England calmed down. It wasn't because England asked him to, but because he wanted to. He's also fiercely protective. There's a reason why his national animal is a dragon. That, and you don't want to see what he's like if he's rudely awoken."

"They left them with the one nation that would never hurt them," Norway said. "Which means that if _we_ hurt them, we _would_ be worse than them."

"Alright," China said. "So, should we save them?"

"It might be tricky," Norway said. "Since they're Amodi territory, we can't just _take_ them, or they'll die."

"And if we go in to take them, we'd have to kill Wales," Brazil said. "Somehow, I don't think they'd appreciate it if we killed him. It would only make them scared of us."

"And convince them that we're the monsters," Taiwan said.

"These children," Russia said. "Do you know what they're like?"

Norway nodded.

"England showed me a little last night," Norway said. "Frenia is like a miniature version of a combined France and Spain. He's a little ball of energy, but he's pretty nice. And Baltia looks like a mix of Latvia and Lithuania, with glasses like Estonia. She's just as timid as the Baltics were."

Russia was dumbstruck when he heard the description. Vilnius frowned.

"So… I have a little sister?" she asked quietly.

A lot of the nations jumped in surprise, since it was the first time most of them had heard her speak. She latched onto Russia, gripping the bottom of his coat.

"Yes," Norway said. "I guess you could say that." He turned to Slovenia. "There's also a new Yugoslavia. Or rather, the name is Slavyu. Belarus is looking for him now."

Slovenia gritted his teeth, before he turned to Turkey.

"I think I know what you meant," he said. "The thought of someone _replacing_ them… But at the same time, the fact that he's being used by Amodi makes me mad. I… I don't want anything to happen to him."

Norway nodded his head, and some of the others bowed theirs.

"There are also two of the Middle Eastern region," Norway said.

"Two?" Lebanon asked.

"One for everyone south of Syria, and the other one Iran and the nations east from him."

"But, that would mean Afghanistan and Turkmenistan," Kazakhstan said.

"And the others."

Kazakhstan and Tajikistan exchanged a nervous look. They knew that in the event that _they_ should die, they would probably be added to that land as well.

"Wait," Cornwall said. "How big are these provinces then?"

"They're provinces in an _empire_ ," Norway said. "Not provinces of a country."

"I feel really puny right now," Jethou said.

"Yeah," Madeira said.

"Those provinces encompass former _nations_ ," Vietnam said. "They're far from small."

"But it's also very clever," Turkey said. "Them combining the territories like that. Because try as you might, there are too many conflicting cultures."

"Not entirely conflicting," Norway said. "But independent."

"And trust me, that might give problems," White said. "You have different cultures interacting, having their own way of doing things. What's good for one wouldn't be for another, for example. And while having many different kinds of people living under one name is ideal in theory, in practice it's a whole different story. It becomes especially difficult if there's even the slightest bit of a grudge between the people. Having different groups suddenly becoming one has its own difficulties. The hardest part would be to get everyone accepting."

"Speaking from experience?" Netherlands asked.

"Of course. Black and I have had a _lot_ of fights over the subject. Why do you think there were two of us? And even within our own groups, we've had a lot of infighting. Like when we first became the Union of South Africa. The conflicting English and Afrikaners gave me a massive headache. And don't even get me _started_ on the minorities thing."

"I think, considering your history, you're the expert on this," China said. "Well, you and America, but he's not here."

White nodded.

"There _is_ one more thing I can add," White said. "Until your people can accept one another, your growth is stunted. It also depends on whether or not _you_ accept them as your people."

"That m-must b-be why they c-combined the a-areas l-like that," Qatar said. "In o-order to k-keep them y-young."

"You have a point," Yemen said. "And we _still_ need to do something about your stuttering!"

"What are their names?" Kuwait asked. "The ones in our area?"

"The western one is simply called Arabia," Norway said. "And the one in the east is Stanryo."

"I wonder how they came up with some of the names," Bahrain said.

"Have you ever heard some of _our_ names?" Cyprus asked. "I don't think they're _too_ farfetched."

"No, I don't think that. I'm genuinely curious."

"So, we can't go after the kids," Turkey said. "But at least we know they exist. Should we go after the ones that Amodi hasn't found yet?"

"No," Norway said. "They're still Amodi territory. Attempting to take them would kill them. The only one it's safe to do so is Haiti."

"Haiti?" Taiwan repeated.

"The old Haiti committed suicide," Norway said. "He purposely allowed there to be a new nation in his place. He entrusted her to a friend of his – a human – in order to keep her safe. Chile had been ordered to look for her, and to keep her alive. He's not too happy, considering his… appetite."

Brazil flinched, hand instinctively making its way to his shoulder.

"But our main focus should be to turn this place into a proper village," China said. "And to fortify ourselves from Romania. Any ideas?"

Norway shared a look with Greenland and Faroe before nodding.

"We can work on something," Norway said. "It might take a while, though. Luckily, Romania needs to wait a few days before he tries again."

"And we _should_ be prepared for next time," Greenland said.

"Luckily, the diamonds should give us a boost," Norway said, glancing towards White.

"Glad that I could help," White said with a smile.

"So, while you three work on that, we'll go back to get more materials," China said, and White groaned.

"I think it would be easier if we could get some more bakkies," White muttered.

…

The sun had set, and Louisiana was locked up in her house, doing who knew what. Massachusetts actually had an idea, but he didn't want to tell the others.

They had all woken up a while ago, and found that Massachusetts had gone shopping for food at the nearest town. So they indulged in that food while they waited for Louisiana to do… whatever it was that she was doing.

America shuddered, looking over his shoulder. Pakistan and Thailand could see that his hair was standing on end, but neither of them mentioned it. Firstly, because they weren't that kind of people, and secondly because they didn't want to see America's false bravado. They knew that America was afraid of ghosts, so they let it go.

"S-so," America said, "how long did she say she'll be busy?"

"A while," Massachusetts said.

America fidgeted, before he looked over his shoulder again.

"Did you hear that?" America asked nervously.

"I still don't get how you're scared of ghosts," Massachusetts said. "There is _nothing_ that they can do."

Thailand and Pakistan flinched. They had tried _not_ to mention America's fear of ghosts. As expected, he started to nervously scoff.

"'Scared'?" America said. "I'm the hero. I'm not scared of ghosts."

"And we were doing so well," Pakistan muttered.

"Good," Massachusetts said. "Because there's one right behind you."

America gave a little shriek, jumping up and spinning around, though he couldn't see anything. Thailand and Pakistan couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

"Not funny," America said, glaring at Massachusetts as he sat down, his face a nice shade of red.

"And you should learn to be honest with yourself," Massachusetts said. "Like I said, ghosts can't do anything to you. At least, not on their own. Oh, and I was serious about there being one behind you."

…

"We still need to weigh the pros and cons about this," Italy said, looking over Poland's shoulder.

The blond was examining a map, and he idly nodded his head.

"If we're not careful, we could cause damage that would be to our detriment," Poland said. "We really don't want to be hoisted by our own petards."

Italy snorted, but he nodded.

"Si," he said. "We don't want to give ourselves any problems. We'll need to tread with caution."

"We should also do something about our other enemies," Poland said. "We need to give them a _huge_ disadvantage. But I fear that bombing them might not be working as well as we'd want to."

Italy smirked.

"I think I might have an idea about that," he said.

…

Slovenia was the one that reacted to the scream, which came from the shack he shared with Serbia. He stormed in, seeing Serbia shaking on the floor.

"Serbia!" he called out. "Is everything alright?"

Serbia sobbed before he looked up, and Slovenia felt his heart jolt when he saw the anguish in the other's eyes, and he knew what happened.

Serbia finally healed after the lobotomy.

"I-I w-watched them d-die," Serbia said. "A-and I didn't _d-do_ anything. I didn't _feel_ anything. I-it was l-like… like watching France and England fight in the world meetings. It was so p-perfectly n-normal and uninteresting and… And I didn't… I d-didn't…"

Slovenia knelt down beside him and pulled him into a hug. Serbia clung to his shirt as he sobbed.

"E-everyone d-dying…" Serbia said. "It was like it didn't matter. L-like I was listening to a conversation w-where everyone was just making small talk."

"Shh," Slovenia soothed. "I don't blame you. I should have listened to General Winter. We shouldn't have split up. _I'm_ the one to blame."

Serbia only sobbed harder as he clung tighter to Slovenia. And all the latter could do was stroke the former's back in the hopes that he would be able to comfort him. But how could there be comfort after _this_?

…

Belarus was searching the area, hoping to see even a trace of the new nation. She was in a small town in Croatia. She had already gone to the capital, but could find nothing.

She hoped that it would be as easy to find the new nation as it was to find Baltia, but chances were, her luck wouldn't be that good a second time. She would just need to be patient.

That was fine. She had learned a lot of patience while they were keeping up their masquerade.

…

Switzerland was already in Saudi Arabia, looking for the new nation. He had used one of their teleportation balls to do that, since he didn't want to waste time.

It was better for him at night, when it wasn't as hot. He was still an alpine nation, and didn't do too well with heat. Which meant that now would be a perfect opportunity to do so, though it wouldn't be too long until sunrise.

He heard movement behind him and spun around. Hiding behind a corner of an office building was a little girl with tanned skin and curly black hair reaching down to her waist. She was looking up at him with large, amber eyes.

Switzerland smiled, sensing what she was as he crouched down to her level.

"Hello," Switzerland said. "Are you perhaps a nation?"

The little girl nodded, and Switzerland's smile widened.

"Well, I'm a nation too," he said. "My name is Switzerland. What's yours?"

"A-Arabia," she said.

"Would you like to come with me? I promise I won't hurt you. I'm not like Turkey."

"Turkey?"

"Yes. He kidnapped a lot of child nations for his empire. He even kidnapped human kids. He killed a lot of parents in front of their kids. Some of them nations. You don't want him to kidnap _you_ , do you?"

Arabia shook her head as she ran up to Switzerland, hugging him in fear. Switzerland's smile turned into a smirk.

The best part was that he wasn't exactly lying. Turkey _did_ kidnap a lot of the child nations during his days as the Ottoman Empire. He did it to Romania and tried to do it to Romano, and Egypt was already without a caretaker before Turkey took him as well.

Lying to get what you wanted was one thing. Using the truth was far more satisfying.

…

It was already late into the night. They could hear creepy sounds coming from Louisiana's house, but none of the males dared move closer to investigate. America's hair was starting to look more and more like Thailand's.

Finally, though, the door to Louisiana's house opened, and she stepped out, looking awkwardly towards them.

"Well," she said. "There's good news and bad news. The good news is, it _worked_ , better than any other attempts."

"'Other' attempts?" Massachusetts repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, attempts on humans. The bad news is, it didn't work as _well_ as I'd hoped."

"What is it exactly?" Pakistan asked.

Louisiana hesitated, looking behind her. She nodded, and stood aside. They heard movement from behind her, and they all widened their eyes at what they saw.

"Well, personality and intelligence have been restored," Louisiana said. "But… not status. So, she's human, albeit stronger."

They all watched in shock as Jordan came out of the house, looking pale, but her eyes shone with a light that it didn't possess earlier. She stopped and smiled nervously at all of them.

 **Yeah, different groups living in harmony might seem good in theory, but in practice… It takes a** _ **long**_ **time for solidarity to form, and depending on who's in charge, it could happen sooner rather than later. One example is that, even after a hundred years, there are still Afrikaners who hold a grudge against the English for the Boer War. And don't even get me** _ **started**_ **on all the post-Apartheid drama. One of the few things that can get all South Africans in agreement is a major sporting event, like the Rugby World Cup in 1996 or the Soccer World Cup in 2010. Another is the fact that most of the country wants to get rid of Zuma.**

 **Also, a personal request. Could any French readers give me advice? I'm leaving for France in a month's time, and would like some advice on what to do there, how everything works, etc. S'il vous plaît?**


	94. Chapter 93

**Thanks to Terra, Mariorio, Elsa, pastaaddict, CheesecakeKittyCat, Pink Tourmaline, Eternal Nexus Warrior, CivilReader2 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Sorry it's later than usual (but still on Monday). I've been busy with my preparations for departure, and I need to write all my exams a month early, and… *sigh*. I didn't even get a chance to proofread this, so if there are mistakes, forgive me. I have a headache, it's past 9 pm, I need to wake up early to drive to my university, which takes 45 minutes, then I need to write an exam. But you get your chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 93**

It had been three days since Romania's astral attack. The nations at China's base had been working hard on creating a village for themselves. They felt that it would be best to take advantage of the reprieve.

They weren't brick houses, which while it would have been more durable, it would take far longer to build. So they were building wooden houses.

As nations, they each had a history of exploration, colonisation and settlement, so they had at least some experience with building. Even the regions knew what to do.

Of course, the injured nations were limited with what they could do. China and Russia, having been shot by Amodi's bullets, healed a lot slower than usual. Brazil, who had also been shot, but with a regular bullet, could carry on with the work. And Oman and Yemen, while not fully healed from their own wounds, could at least help to some extent.

Many nations were disappointed that Russia couldn't use his full strength, which would ultimately make things easier. Russia had simply smiled and said that he could still help, as long as he was careful with his injured arm. Georgia firmly told him that if he should feel the need, he needed to rest.

Greece, unfortunately, had to be kept separately from the others. He kept switching between seeing them as allies and seeing them as enemies. And it was unclear which mood he could be in at any moment. The important thing for them was to convince him that they weren't a threat, and they did that by letting him walk about without restraints, but Greece kept to himself most of the time. And few were willing to approach him, since he would switch between moods at a moment's notice.

The only person that Greece allowed near him without being seen as a threat was Serbia, who tried to avoid the others as much as possible. Slovenia was worried about him.

…

"You know, we _really_ need to get another bakkie or something," White said. "That way, _I'm_ not the only one forced to drive around."

"Just be glad that we _can_ get something," China sighed. "Unless you would rather build?"

"I'm just worried about leaving Brazil alone with Netherlands. He's been acting really weird lately."

"I think he's being an overprotective father."

"Netherlands? You've got to be kidding, right?"

"His behaviour is typical of that."

"But… He's never been that way with me before. I mean, he _gave_ me to England because I wasn't profitable and a waste of money. And then came gold and diamonds a few decades later…"

"Has it occurred to you that it was his boss's orders and he _had_ to give you up?"

"Well… He wasn't exactly _loving_ , should I say. But… he definitely treated me better than England did."

"You know what he's like. Don't take it personal. But, it _should_ make it easier for _me_ to convince Portugal that I like him. Compared to Netherlands, I _am_ the more emotional one. The one that could treat him right."

White looked towards him with a wry smile.

"Were you just trying to put your romantic rival in a _good_ light?" she teased.

China blushed, realising what he had been saying and looked away. White laughed at his embarrassment.

"It's a good thing Portugal isn't here, nè?" White asked.

"Shut up," China said. "And what about you and Brazil? He likes you, you know?"

White sobered, and nodded.

"Ja, I know," she said. "I still don't know what to do about it, to be honest. I mean… I don't know how I feel about him. And after Israel… If I _do_ like him, I'm not ready to be in a relationship."

China nodded.

"Good idea," he said. "You don't want to force yourself into something, just because Brazil likes you. If you do something when you're not ready, you'd only hurt yourself. And him. Take it easy, sort your feelings out. If his feelings for you are true, then he would wait patiently."

White was silent before she nodded, a smile on her face.

"I guess four thousand years of wisdom pays off," White said.

China huffed.

"It seems like a waste, though," China said. "Giving love advice. After everything else I've been through, everything I've learned… _this_ is what it comes to."

White chuckled.

"What are you going to do if you see Portugal again?" White asked.

China blinked at the sudden question.

"Well, I'd try to get him out of Amodi's clutches first," China said.

"After that," White said. "After all is said and done, and we're all going towards our happily ever after."

This time, China was a bit disturbed by the way she phrased it.

"I'll… I'll tell him how I feel," China said.

"And if Netherlands beats you to the punch?" White asked.

China bit his lip.

"Perhaps… It's a good idea for him to know how both of us feel," China said. "He can figure out which of us he wants."

"And if he wants Netherlands?" White asked. "Or neither of you?"

China swallowed nervously, but he didn't answer. They remained in that silence for a long time before White sighed.

"We'll talk once you've figured it out," White said.

"…I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

"Don't worry. The fact that you couldn't answer is a good thing. If you said that you would have worked hard to prove your love or win him over, then you're entering dangerous territory. Kind of like… Like Israel was in the end. And if you had said that you would have let him go, then I think both of us know that you would have been lying. I think you should sort out _your_ feelings as well. I mean… Amodi, as sick and twisted as they are, have managed to figure it out. While the rest of us are having troubles."

China nodded.

"I remember seeing Egypt and Canada together," China said. "They seemed genuinely in love. And they cared for each other."

They were silent for another moment.

"I wonder how Canada's holding up," White said. "I mean, I know he's the enemy and everything, but… Turkey and the others killed Egypt, didn't they? How's he faring?"

"I think he's angry," China said. "When America killed Molossia, Liechtenstein attacked a nuclear plant. But… They didn't say anything about an attack or other disaster, did they?"

"I don't think they've said anything like that. But I _do_ get a bad feeling about it."

…

Canada rolled up the papers, placing it in his bag. He had a lot of materials with him, one of them being a camera. His biggest issue would be to deliver the footage, but he would worry about that later.

He had thought long and hard about it, but ultimately decided that this was the ideal method. Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus had escaped with Greece after killing Egypt, along with Faroe Islands. This way, Canada would be able to get at least two, maybe three of them. He would just need to think of something ideal for Faroe.

Well, he might have _something_ … But first things first.

He made his way to the basement, where Michoacán was shackled to the wall. She glared up at him, and he smirked lazily.

She had lost some of the fire, but she wasn't completely broken yet. And she refused to show her fear. That was okay. Quebec had started out angry, then scared, and then finally his eyes looked dead. He was still alive, but then he had become dead inside.

Canada would need to remember to make Quebec _completely_ dead.

He didn't speak to her, merely checked her shackles to make sure that she wouldn't be able to break free. He had already made sure that she didn't have anything with her to pick the locks. Once he was satisfied, he turned and left.

She didn't spit him anymore when he came close. He knew that it wasn't as much that she was afraid as it was that she was too dehydrated to even try. And it was probably driving her insane, along with the hunger.

Canada turned to Kumajiro, who looked up at him with a spark in his eyes.

"Keep an eye on her," Canada said. "Make sure that she doesn't manage to get out. Or that anyone gets in."

Kumajiro nodded, and Canada smirked. He knew that Kumajiro had quite a bit of a surprise hidden behind the fluffy, somewhat clueless exterior. It was the same with Egypt's dog, Anubis.

Canada would probably need to get Anubis too.

But for now, he had other things to worry about.

…

Quebec was carrying a few planks over towards where the regions were building. They had decided that they were going to build a place for all of them to reside in comfortably. No need to split up, after all.

Japan was the one who had drawn up the blueprints, being the one with the steadiest hands when it came to drawing. He had also studied western styles from America, and could combine the western styles with the eastern styles that he was more familiar with.

Quebec put the planks down, smiling at Picardy, who nodded back amiably. He then yelped when he felt someone pinching his side.

"You've put on some weight," Gibraltar said. "That's good."

Quebec stayed still as her hand wandered over his side. Picardy was looking over at them with a raised eyebrow.

"You're still way too skinny," Gibraltar said. "But you're showing definite improvement."

"Hey!" Madeira exclaimed, almost dropping the planks that she was carrying. "Hands off!"

Gibraltar turned to Madeira with a devious look in her eyes.

"I'm just checking to make sure he's recovering," she said innocently.

"You can do that _without_ acting like France," Isle of Man said, looking peeved as well.

"Considering the fact that he's a French-speaker, I don't see what the problem is."

"Get off him!" Greenland shouted, looking as though she wanted nothing more than to throw the box of nails that she was carrying.

"Malena, release him right now!" Catalonia snapped.

Gibraltar giggled, but before she could do anything, Quebec was pulled away by someone else. Quebec turned to see Cornwall, shaking his head.

"Let's get you out of here before things get messy," Cornwall said.

Quebec blinked in confusion.

"What just happened?" Quebec asked.

Cornwall just shook his head.

"I don't know whether your cluelessness makes it better or worse," Cornwall said.

Picardy walked up to them, laughing all the way.

"Mon ami, you have no idea how France would have laughed right now," Picardy said.

"Kind of like how _you're_ laughing now?" Cornwall asked. "And wouldn't he be frustrated?"

Picardy shrugged, before he threw his arm around Quebec's waist.

"Do you think we should perhaps make the girls jealous?" Picardy asked.

Cornwall shook his head and sighed.

"You are most definitely French," he said.

"And _you_ are so British," Picardy said.

A lot of the nations had paused in their work to see the two of them bantering with each other. Many were reminded of France and England, except that the two regions were rather amicable towards each other, and their bantering was light-hearted and relaxed.

They also couldn't help but laugh at Quebec's clueless expression.

…

Liechtenstein was making coffee for herself, the ghost of a headache reminding her of what had happened a few days ago. But for the most part, she was healed, and eager to pick up where she left off.

Or she _would_ be, if Italy didn't tell her that she was to remain at the base for the time being. She wasn't sure whether it was because he was angry that she had messed up, or because he was worried that she might get hurt with their next plan for America.

Even the members of Amodi couldn't tell what the others were thinking on occasion.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, and she calmly turned around to see Vatican.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

Vatican sighed.

"I was wondering if you would like to accompany me," Vatican said. "To Jason's grave."

She had a light smile on her face, but the moment she heard those words the smile fell. She bowed her head.

"I… I would like that," she said.

Vatican nodded his head, giving her an encouraging smile. She walked out of the kitchen, her coffee forgotten as she went to prepare herself.

…

When White and China returned, Brazil was one of the first nations to approach the car, ready to help out in any way.

White started to remove some of the planks that they had bought, but had overestimated the force necessary. Luckily, Brazil was there to catch her.

"Obrigado," she muttered, her cheeks turning red.

Brazil blinked in surprise.

"You've gotten better with your Portuguese pronunciation," Brazil said.

She looked confused for a moment, before her eyes widened. She turned thoughtful, before she cursed.

"Those assholes," White said. "They tampered with my language policies."

"What did they do?" Netherlands asked, eyeing Brazil's hands that were still on White.

"They made Dutch and Portuguese official languages," she said. "And are encouraging the learning of Italian as second additional language, as well as Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Gujarati and Urdu. And… for some strange reason, _Serbian_."

The other nations stared at her in confusion.

"What does that mean?" China asked.

"Dutch… I'm not too sure," White said. "Portuguese… that one kind of makes sense, given my Portuguese population. Italian was already taught as a second additional language, along with the Indian languages. Actually, the Indian languages were already taught as home languages, and Portuguese too. As for Serbian… Well, it was already a SAL. Why they want to encourage it…"

Slovenia, who was listening in, widened his eyes, before running off. Some of the others looked after him before turning back to White.

"I think they're trying to make your people more attached to their lands," Russia said.

White shrugged.

"It's possible, given how those learning French react," she said.

…

Slovenia ran over towards where Serbia was leaning against a tree, staring blankly in front of him. This time, it was because his thoughts and emotions were catching up to each other.

It hurt to see him like this as well.

"Serbia," Slovenia said. "White said that Serbian is being encouraged in her country. By Amodi."

Serbia shrugged.

"Why would they do that?" Slovenia asked. "I mean… Unless you're…"

"I'm not with them," Serbia said. "I know how Norway feels."

Slovenia sighed in relief, but then he tensed.

"What?" he whispered.

The corner of Serbia's mouth twitched.

"He didn't just take my emotions from me that day," Serbia said. "He took my land. I'm… I'm human."

Slovenia gasped, and Serbia closed his eyes, tears falling from them. Slovenia fell to his knees and wrapped the other in a hug, and Serbia sobbed.

…

Wales sighed, trying to pull the piece of bread from his hair. Arabia and Frenia had started a food fight, and Baltia was hiding behind him.

He hoped they would learn to get along soon. And he wondered how long it would take for another youngling to be brought to him.

…

Jordan was sitting to the side, staring into the distance. Pakistan walked closer and sat down. She glanced towards him briefly before she sighed.

"This is different from the other times," Jordan said. "It's like I'm… I'm completely disconnected. And it's not just my land I'm missing. I… I don't belong here anymore."

Pakistan reached out for her hand, holding it tight. It felt a lot colder than it used to, but it wasn't the same as a corpse. It was in-between.

More footsteps could be heard, and the others walked closer.

"How are you feeling now?" Louisiana asked.

Jordan shook her head.

"I… I want to go back," she said. "I don't belong here anymore."

Her hand made its way to her throat, where the bullet wound was still visible.

"Please," America said. "Just hold on until we've ended this war. And then… If you really want to pass on…"

Jordan shook her head.

"How long will it take?" she asked. "I mean… it's not like the Anglo-Zanzibar war. It wouldn't be. And I don't think I'd like a hundred years' war, like France and England had."

America flinched.

"We'll do our best to end this as soon as possible," he said. "We could probably try by killing Italy and Poland."

"One question," Thailand said. "In the afterlife… The dead Amodi nations…"

"They don't interact," Jordan said. "I think the afterlife wants to prevent a war there."

"You act as though the afterlife is a person," America said.

Jordan nodded.

"She is," she said. "Just like Death."

America shuddered, and Jordan couldn't help but chuckle.

"The others…" she said. "They're not… _opposed_ to what you're trying to do. But… Some of them aren't too… eager. Those who were killed by Amodi's South American nations."

"Any specific reason?" Massachusetts asked.

"Yeah. The South Americans are cannibals. And there are _chunks_ missing from those nations."

The two states looked a little green at the news. America coughed nervously.

"Okay," America said. "Those nations are out, then. That thing isn't healing?"

Jordan shook her head.

"It's what killed me," she said. "It won't heal."

"And given Amodi's track record of torturing their victims…" Thailand said. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"Denmark and Sweden are willing," Jordan said. "And France too. But… Some of the ones that had their hearts removed are hesitant."

America nodded, before looking over towards Massachusetts and Louisiana.

"You said that you have a way to get them here?" he asked.

The two nodded.

"It would take a lot of energy, but we can do it," Louisiana said.

"Good," America said. "Amodi won't know what hit them."

"I have to admit, I _am_ curious to see how they react to those they killed," Pakistan said.

"Not to mention that the ones that died would be _pretty_ mad at them," Thailand said.

"You have _no_ idea," Jordan said, smiling.

 **I looked for the Matric Exam timetable (matric is what we call grade 12). When I was matric, I saw a lot of SAL options. But now, some of them have been elevated to first additional languages and home languages. Italian is available as a SAL, as well as Serbian. And the others are HL, FAL and SAL possibilities. Dutch isn't on the timetable, but in university it's combined with Afrikaans, though you can take it in second year as an elective. And on Wikipedia, I checked the languages of South Africa, specifically the unofficial ones, because that would make more than 25 languages here. Portuguese is apparently the fastest growing, with a large minority (something like 400 000 Portuguese people, of a population of over 50 million). French is also pretty prominent. And yes, there's the Alliance Française, and my university also makes a pretty huge effort. I think they said there's something like 5 200 students of French in South Africa.**

 **And poor Quebec. He has no idea that he has a harem. One of my favourite anime genres, actually (though I'd appreciate it if there was less ecchi). And ever noticed how reverse harems tend to be more serious in tone?**


	95. Chapter 94

**Thanks to Mariorio, Terra, Pink Tourmaline, CivilReader2, pastaaddict, Eternal Nexus Warrior, CheesecakeKittyCat and an anon for reviewing. We've passed 850 reviews. Thank you!**

 **So, one of the reviews of the previous chapter was filled with questions regarding the fates of certain nations, so they have some attention here. Not too much action, but isn't quite filler.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 94**

Belarus was getting impatient. She had been searching for the new nation in the old Yugoslavia, but had been unsuccessful. She knew that it probably wouldn't be as easy as it had been to find Baltia, but she was hoping that it wouldn't be _this_ difficult.

She was in the countryside of Croatia, feeling more than annoyed. She hoped that she found the child soon. It was getting rather tedious.

She stopped, sensing something. She turned to her right, seeing a large tree. She walked closer, and on the other side of the tree she could see a little boy, curled up and sleeping with his thumb in his mouth.

Belarus smirked, sensing that this boy was the child that she had been searching for. It was a huge relief. It meant that her hunt was over.

She plopped down near him, wanting to rest for a while. She hadn't slept at all for the last few days, desperate to find the child. But now that she had found him, she could relax a little and regain her strength.

She took a moment to examine the other's appearance. The boy was pale, not that it was surprising for the Yugoslavians. He had scruffy black hair and wore the dress that new-born nations were usually found in. She couldn't see his eyes, but suspected that it would be variations of brown or green (or even hazel) that the previous Yugoslavians possessed.

Belarus would let the child sleep for now. She needed it as well. Knowing that the child would be curious when he woke up and saw her, she was sure that she wouldn't lose him. Besides, even if he decided to run away, she would be able to sense him now, since she already had a feel for him.

And so she closed her eyes, feeling that it was safe to sleep.

…

Brunei made himself a cup of tea, avoiding a glance out of the window. He would only be reminded of the absolute horror that befell this country.

He went to the living room with his cup of tea, but paused in the dining room. Malaysia's corpse had been moved, but he still could see the way he found the other nation. It had not been pretty.

He kept his ears to the ground. He knew that Philippines had attacked Malaysia, slaughtering everyone. Never before had he seen an entire population wiped out like that. And he was afraid that he would have been next.

He figured that it would have been a lot safer to go to a nation that they were finished with. One that they didn't take over, but _destroy_. There was no one left in Malaysia. He had already checked. And Malaysia hadn't been taken as Amodi territory. It was no-man's land.

He felt guilty, but he wanted to ensure his survival, and the survival of his people. He had heard of the way Amodi preferred to deal with nations, and he would rather not go through that.

Though the way they dealt with Malaysia…

Brunei could only hope, but without a way to get in touch with the rest of the world, he had nothing more he could do.

He had moved Malaysia's body to his bedroom, covering the other up as best he could. He had taken Malaysia's guestroom for himself, leaving the other's room to become his final resting place.

It was fortunate that nations decayed a lot slower than humans. Otherwise, the entire house would have been buried in the stench by now. But Malaysia should have a few months before he started to show signs of decay.

Brunei just wished that he knew how to contact the others. Then perhaps he would have been able to find a proper sanctuary, and Malaysia would have been able to be properly put to rest.

…

Chile groaned in frustration, leaning against a chain-link fence. On the other side was a playground with children laughing and playing. But he couldn't sense if one of them was the one he was looking for.

"Qu'est-ce que vous faites?" a woman's voice snapped.

It took him a moment to realise that she was addressing him, and he turned around with a bored expression. The woman seemed to be the matronly sort, and thus wasn't someone he wanted to pick a fight with. They were always difficult.

He sighed, removing a handgun. The woman's eyes bulged, and she took a step back.

"Leave me alone," he said, his tone bored.

He pulled the trigger, and he heard screams behind him as the woman's body dropped to the ground. He shook his head, before cocking it to the side.

He could sense a flicker, about twenty kilometres away. It was the same as the general feel of the land. It was Haiti.

He smirked. It would seem that killing a citizen of another nation was the best course of action. Since the child wouldn't have much experience with being a nation, casualties of war would also be a foreign – and distressing – concept.

But now he knew where to go, and he started his trek.

…

Tonga stared up with wide eyes at Argentina, his wrists and ankles bound to the bedposts. His mouth had been taped shut, and his breathing was ragged.

There were a few incisions on his torso, where Argentina would occasionally remove one of his organs. And she had dragged a small gas stove with a frying pan closer, and would fry his organs in front of him. When she had removed one of his kidneys, she even forced him to eat it.

If he had been a regular human, he would have died already. But instead, he was forced to suffer through this torture.

Argentina twirled the knife in her fingers, straddling his waist. He had never been this afraid of a woman in his entire existence as a nation.

"So, which should I go for next?" Argentina asked lightly. "Should I go for your liver, or would you prefer it if I cut off another piece of lung?"

Tonga clenched his eyes and sobbed. He knew that shaking his head – the only form of begging he could do – would do nothing but encourage her to continue. Argentina chuckled, before she reached into one of the incisions already on his torso. He screamed at the horrible sensation, and he didn't want to see what she pulled out _this_ time.

"You know, I'm a little tired of having to add salt every time," Argentina said casually. "So I figured I'd do it all in one shot."

He opened his eyes, seeing her holding a saltshaker, its cap twisted off. She smirked, before using her fingers to keep one of the incisions open, earning a moan of pain, before he shrieked as she poured the salt inside.

…

Belarus was woken by something tugging her hair, very gently though. She opened her eyes, and the culprit yelped, jumping back. Belarus forced herself into a sitting position to see that the child had woken up and had indeed been curious about her.

She was a bit taken aback by his eyes. His left eye was amber while the right eye was turquoise. Nations had a tendency to have unique eyes, but this little one really took the cake.

"I'm sorry!" the boy shouted, backing up a little.

Belarus sighed, seeing that he was one of the nervous types.

"I'm not mad," she said. "You just surprised me, that's all. What's your name?"

"S-Slavyu," he said.

"Well then, nice to meet you, Slavyu. My name is Belarus. I'm a nation, like you."

He swallowed, but seemed to relax when she told him that she was like him. He then gave her a shaky smile.

"I've come to take you to a friend of mine," Belarus said. "There are some nasty nations that want to have you."

"W-what?" Slavyu asked, smile falling. "Why? What did _I_ do to them?"

"They're mean," Belarus said. "Like Slovenia. He let the others kill his brothers and sisters because he didn't want them anymore."

Slavyu gasped, before running over to Belarus, wrapping his arms around her neck. Belarus held in her smirk. The boy was afraid, and would be more than willing to go with her.

And she made him afraid of his elder brother.

…

Nepal was whimpering in pain, curled up on the couch. Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan were watching him, feeling utterly helpless.

They knew that Nepal's people were being attacked, one by one. But what disturbed them was that it was being done by three nations, and only a small portion of their armies were being used.

Nepal could identify them as North and South Korea, as well as Philippines. They knew that the two Koreas were members of Amodi, but was Philippines as well?

They had heard of Amodi's usual tactics, and the fact that they weren't following those tactics was disturbing. And since they couldn't use any modern communications, they had no idea what was happening, and couldn't reach the other nations at all.

They should have reacted to China's call before everything went to hell.

…

"Where do you think he is?" Philippines asked casually, closing yet another closet in Nepal's house.

"I don't sense him," South said. "Not here, at least."

"We can sense nations invading our lands," North said. "And we can sense the nation whose land we're in. But… If that nation so happens to be abroad…"

"I already know all of this," Philippines snapped. "So then, where do you think he'd be?"

"He would most likely choose to flee to one of his neighbours," North said.

"…Oh joy. Do we continue to hunt him down?"

"That could take forever and be a waste of time," South said. "We'll let our armies continue with his people. By the time we _do_ find him, his people should be dead and it would be incredibly easy to simply kill him. Or he might decide to do that for us. A nation without people has nothing to live for, after all."

Philippines shrugged.

"You may have a point," she said.

…

Cambodia was in Vietnam, trying to keep as low a profile as possible. He didn't know where Vietnam was, but hoped that she was safe. And that her land was safe.

Though the people weren't hostile towards him, he still wished that he could know for sure. He wished he knew how to get in contact with Vietnam to at least tell her that he was using her land as a shelter.

…

Turkey went up to China, Russia following behind him. China watched the two as they approached, momentarily taking his eyes off Vietnam, who was tending to the area that they had designated for growing crops.

"What is it?" China asked.

"I've been thinking," Turkey said. "We'll need to get more nations here. The ones that are helpless and hiding out because that's the only thing they can do."

"It's a good idea," Russia said. "And the more allies we have against Amodi, the better our chances."

"And how do we get them here?" China asked.

"Adamastor."

The three turned to see White, Brazil and Netherlands standing behind Turkey and Russia. Brazil was the one who had spoken.

"He has the same powers of teleportation that General Winter has," Brazil said. "And he's more willing to help than the General."

Vietnam had been moving closer so as not to be excluded from the conversation, and decided to add to what Brazil said.

"He's already helping out with the crops," Vietnam said. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if White asked him to gather us more allies."

"And Norway can help us figure out which nations to get," Netherlands said.

China nodded his head. Turkey scrutinised them.

"I don't remember inviting you to this discussion," Turkey said.

"I came for the fields," White said. "Or did you forget that my side of the population were the Boers?"

The others stared at her with blank expressions, and Netherlands sighed.

"'Boer' means 'farmer'," Netherlands said. "There's a reason for that."

White snickered, before making her way to the field. Brazil made to go after him, but Netherlands grabbed him by the shoulder. Brazil pouted as the others smirked.

"I didn't figure you for the shotgun-father type," Turkey said.

…

Israel looked down at his hand, and the ribbons became visible for a while.

He knew that White was somewhere in China. He just couldn't pinpoint _where_ exactly. He was in India, and the nation knew of it (telling him that he could stay at his house in Mumbai for a while, but asking him not to break anything). It was the closest he could get at present.

But it was time to move out, and he knew that this time, it would be a lot trickier. He would be going into enemy territory with only the ribbons to guide him.

He would take her back, whether she wanted to go with him or not.

…

Two days ago, the African nations had received instructions that they needed to go to Ethiopia, which they immediately did out of fear. They were mostly kept in the dark about the war, but they did manage to learn one or two things.

First, of course, was that Madagascar had died when attempting to escape. Simply the fact that she was trying to escape was how she ended up dead. It was whatever magic Amodi used that caused it to happen. Then those that had been unaware were informed of the fact that there were two South Africas, or that there _had been_ two, and that one had been killed by Amodi. The other one had managed to escape from Amodi, despite the spell that they had in place. And when Uganda had heard of that, he had attempted to escape, only for Somalia to return his corpse. The magic was still in effect, and they were constantly reminded of that fact. And finally, they had learned of Egypt's death.

Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Libya were a bit hostile, and the others suspected that it was due to what had happened to Egypt. The four Amodi nations had gathered everyone to keep them in one place, and to make sure that what White had accomplished wouldn't be attempted by any of the others.

The nations of Africa were worried about what happened outside of their continent. Though they hated it, they depended on the nations on the outside to help them.

The only African nations that weren't there, asides from South Africa, Madagascar, Uganda and Egypt were the Portuguese-speaking nations. At least they knew that those nations were safe.

…

America opened the door to Louisiana's house, prompting her to throw him with the nearest object. He deftly dodged it, seeing that she kept quite a few things next to her bed for such a purpose. Even though it was the middle of the day, Louisiana had decided to go to sleep.

America ignored the glare that Louisiana sent him.

"So, you said that you'd be able to get the… bodies of the nations here, right?" America asked.

"That's Mass's mojo," she said. "He's doing it right now. I'm going to bring someone else back tonight, so I would appreciate it if you would let me _sleep_."

America nodded.

"Okay then," he said. "Is this really going to be alright?"

"Jordan's acting normal, isn't she?" Louisiana asked. "Please, let me _sleep_ now."

"Okay then," America said. "Just… If this is something dangerous… be careful."

"I know."

…

"Do you think we'll get a chance to go out into the sun again?" Australia asked.

New Zealand glanced towards him and smirked a little.

"I hope so," he said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need a tan. Pasty doesn't suit you, Oz."

"Pasty?!" Australia repeated. "And what about _you_ , Kiwi?"

"For me, it's not noticeable," New Zealand said. "Not as much as you."

The two were silent for a while before they sighed.

"Next time Hutt or Wy come to give us food, we should ask them about it," Australia said.

"We can always say that we're humans now and more fragile," New Zealand said. "And that humans need sunlight. But… Well, they don't really have a reason to keep us alive, do they?"

Australia flinched.

"Yeah," he said. "Why _are_ we still alive?"

"…Maybe it would be better if we don't dwell on that," New Zealand said. "Because I don't think I want to know the answer."

"Good point."

…

"I hate the heat," Switzerland muttered.

He hadn't been happy when San Marino called him to notify him that there was another nation in the Middle Eastern region. That apparently, Arabia had a sibling. And now it was _his_ job to find him or her.

Couldn't they have had one of the African nations do it instead? They were a lot more accustomed to the heat than Switzerland was. And they didn't have a need for as much sunblock as he did.

He hoped he found the child soon. He didn't know how long he would be able to hold out. Though, thinking about it, perhaps he should go to a nice, air-conditioned building during the day and spend his nights trying to find the child. It was the only thing that he could think of.

He also really wanted to see South again. They had been forced to keep a distance from each other during the masquerade. And they had hoped that they would be able to spend much time together after the end of the masquerade. But perhaps they could do that once there was nothing really to do anymore. When there was no more resistance.

…

Romania hugged Finland from behind, and the Nordic smiled.

"I'm going to try again," Romania said. "Tonight."

Finland's smile fell as he turned to the other.

"Will you be alright?" Finland asked.

"Of course I will," Romania said. "There's nothing that they could do to me that would hurt me."

 **Yeah, Boer really means 'farmer', which explains why England's scorched earth tactic made people angry. They lost their homes and livelihoods, and their families were driven out. Farming is one of South Africa's most important industries, along with mining. My hometown happens to do both. And the other day, there was this huge fire that burned several farming fields near my town (one of the farmers affected by it was an acquaintance). And if you say someone is a 'a real boer' in Afrikaans, it has a double meaning. It either means traditionally Afrikaans, or it means he's a farmer.**

 **In my opinion, the colour of your skin only matters when deciding how strong your sunscreen needs to be. Those with darker skin have built-in UV protection, while those with lighter skin lacks it. There's actually a chapter of Scandinavia and the World which addresses this, called 'We're all too fragile for this world'. As a note, a doctor once told me that South Africans have a tendency to have a vitamin D deficiency. Even though we have a lot of sun, we tend to stay out of it as much as possible (Saturday I could feel the sun already burning after only being out for two minutes, and it's** _ **spring**_ **).**

 **And during the weekend, we received a little reminder that we're living in** _ **Africa**_ **: On one of the farms outside of town, an ox was killed by a lion. No one knows where the lion came from. Anyway, they set up a trap to capture the lion, and just before they could succeed, five more lions appeared, and they all escaped. Last I heard, they're** _ **still**_ **looking. So, now we have six lions outside our town.**


	96. Chapter 95

**Thanks to Toesz, Starpool2, Pink Tourmaline, Elsa, pastaaddict, Eternal Nexus Warrior and CheesecakeKittyCat for reviewing. More than 850 reviews. Thanks guys.**

 **I'm sorry for the lateness. I promise, starting next week, I should have a more relaxed schedule. One that doesn't leave me physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 95**

"Everyone would need to be careful tonight," Norway said. "By my calculations, Romania should be ready to use astral projection again."

They were having dinner in the area they had designated as their village centre. It was just an open space with a campfire in the centre, but they could expand on it while they were there. As long as they didn't need to relocate, they would be there for a while. As it was, the only person on Amodi's side who could compromise their location was Romania, but according to Norway, he wouldn't know where exactly they were, since he was following their signals and not geographically searching for them.

They just hoped that it could last.

Upon hearing that they might be attacked by Romania again, some of the others tensed and paled. Netherlands (who was sitting between White and Brazil) moved slightly closer towards White, who looked a little sick, and Russia placed his hand on Vilnius's shoulder.

"Those charms aren't ready!" Greenland said in alarm. "We only have a few of them!"

"I know," Norway said. "But… I think we'll need to focus on the main targets. White, Brazil and Netherlands, and I think China and Japan as well. Myself, Russia, Slovenia…"

"Wait," Slovenia said. "Why me?"

"Well, you _are_ the only one of the old Yugoslavia that's left," Norway said.

Serbia flinched, and Slovenia placed his arm protectively around the other's shoulders.

"I'm not the only one," Slovenia said firmly.

"But you're the only one whose land doesn't belong to Amodi," Norway said. "They might want to finish the job. Wasn't it Romania that went to attack you?"

Slovenia winced, and Serbia whimpered.

"Should we have someone keeping watch?" China asked.

"How?" Norway asked. "You wouldn't be able to see him."

"But we can probably tell that his intended target is having a nightmare. You said those charms are supposed to ward him off. What if, when we see someone having a nightmare, we take a charm to them?"

Norway was quiet for a moment, before he nodded.

"It could work," he said. "But how do you suggest it works?"

"Camping outside," China said. "Having everyone together. And a few nations keeping guard, switching out every three hours or so."

"That could work," Netherlands said.

"Just one problem," Norway said. "It might take a while before the ones keeping guard realise that something is happening. By then, a lot of damage could be done."

"It _should_ be possible that the guards each keep one of the charms and walk around the others," Faroe said. "The proximity to the charms should work fine."

"So, not only are we going to have to stay awake, but we'll have to walk around," Turkey sighed.

"It would help keep us awake," Japan said.

Greece groaned, and Cyprus glanced towards him.

"You're not going to stand guard," Cyprus said. "You still need some time to recover."

Everyone knew what Cyprus was thinking, especially when he rubbed his throat. He clearly still remembered that Greece had tried to kill him a few days ago. And it was clear that he didn't feel comfortable with being asleep while Greece was awake.

Greece flinched slightly, understanding that he wasn't trusted. He kept alternating between mentalities, and he recognised that he was still a little unstable. And he knew that it would take a while before he could say that he didn't have trouble like that anymore. And for the others to trust him again.

"Alright then," Russia said. "Then we can all camp together, and we can make sure that nothing bad happens."

"Some of us Africans used to do this a lot," White said. "We would go camping a lot and spend a night under the stars. And someone would keep guard."

"Why did you need to keep guard?" Oman asked.

"Lions, leopards, hyenas, snakes…"

"Oh yeah. I kind of forgot which continent you came from."

White sighed.

"We have national parks, among other things," she said. "Some areas have designated areas where one could do something like that."

Oman chuckled nervously, realising that he had put his foot in his mouth. The ones that knew White knew that she, along with every other African, hated it when someone assumed that Africa was still a savage place. Particularly if that assumption was accompanied by another that they were primitive.

"I volunteer for first shift," White said.

The others could see that she was still a little nervous, especially since she was targeted by Romania the previous time. It was only natural that she wanted to avoid the possibility that it might happen again.

"I volunteer too," Brazil said.

"As do I," Netherlands said.

Brazil sighed in frustration, and some of the others chuckled.

"Any other volunteers?" Norway asked.

…

"We need to get to a safer place," Myanmar said. "If they're in Nepal…"

"It might be a good idea," Bhutan said. "If they decide to go from one country to the next, then it's only a matter of time before they come to us. And find us."

"But where would it be safe?" Bangladesh asked. "Who isn't a member of Amodi, or conquered by them?"

"China," Nepal said weakly. "He should be safe."

Bangladesh sighed.

"It's worth a try," he said. "But what do we do if it's the wrong place to go?"

"We're running out of options," Myanmar said. "We _need_ to get out of here. Before they find and kill us. Because I don't think they're going to make it fast or painless."

The others nodded their heads in agreement. They knew that what Myanmar was saying was true. It was far more dangerous for nations than ever before. Even the Cold War, with the nuclear threat, didn't make them feel that afraid. Because in that case, most nations would be nothing but collateral damage. But this time, they were being picked off one by one.

It was a new holocaust. A holocaust of nations. And the ones responsible were nations themselves.

…

Chile cocked his head to the side, surprised to see the place where he sensed the new Haiti. On the other hand, it _was_ the perfect place. He had been looking for the new Haiti in playgrounds and other places where one would normally find a child.

He hadn't thought to look for the child in a retirement home.

It was very clever, but now it was over. And soon enough, he would be able to join the other South Americans in Oceania.

He was also aware of what Italy wanted with the child nations. He wanted them to grow up believing that Amodi was the best choice for them. That they would be safe under their control. And they would cooperate without any problems.

However, Chile was aware of the fact that it might be difficult to accomplish that. There was no way that he would be able to peacefully bring the child in. Didn't the former Haiti say in his note that the new one was a girl? And he would probably need to pry her away from her current caretaker. And she might already be aware of the fact that he was an enemy. No matter how things would go, it wouldn't be pretty.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to accomplish the task of winning Haiti over to their side. She wouldn't be growing up thinking that the nations of Amodi were the heroes.

But younger nations were easy to manipulate. They would keep out of trouble as much as possible. And they still had room to be taught the way Amodi wanted them to act.

…

"Are you sure everything will be alright?" Finland asked.

"Da," Romania said, smiling reassuringly. "It went fine last time. And I know what to expect this time."

"But _they_ might be prepared as well. Just… be careful."

"You don't have to worry about me. I promise, nothing will go wrong."

"I hope so."

…

Brazil walked towards Netherlands. It was already quite late, and the first few nations had already turned in for the night. They were worn out from having to work on building their new village.

"Netherlands, could I speak with you for a moment?" Brazil asked.

Netherlands looked at Brazil with a slight frown on his face before he nodded his head. The two of them walked a short distance away from the others. The ones that were still awake ignored them.

"What is it?" Netherlands asked.

Brazil sighed.

"What is your problem with me?" Brazil asked.

"What do you mean?" Netherlands asked.

"Why won't you let me go near Anika? Since when were you so protective of her?"

Netherlands stared blankly at Brazil, before closing his eyes.

"I'm worried about her," Netherlands said. "This whole situation with Israel… I know what they intended to do with that. They were trying to manipulate her emotions. And while she may _look_ as though she is doing alright, I can see that she's still a little nervous around others being too close to her. I notice that she isn't entirely comfortable around you yet."

Brazil's face fell.

"Are… Are you sure?" he asked.

Netherlands nodded his head.

"Remember, she was my colony, as well as England's. And you should know how the two of us could be. She looks open, but is closed off. It's a bit different from how you are. You inherited the Latin habit of ignoring personal space. And right now, she needs her space."

Brazil averted his eyes, before nodding.

"I understand," he said. "I'll give her a little more space."

Netherlands nodded his head.

"But I will tell you something else," Netherlands said. "She told me about the nightmare she had the other day. The one where Romania interfered."

Brazil nodded his head, showing that he was listening.

"She said she saw many nations dying," he said. "But in the dream, she saw you being executed. And it upset her. It was the thing that really bothered her. So… Perhaps she _does_ feel something for you. But it's not the right time."

Brazil nodded his head.

"I understand," he said. "I'll give her time and space."

"Good," Netherlands said.

…

Massachusetts was working on summoning one of the nations' corpses. He had spoken to America and Jordan earlier, deciding on someone to summon, whom Louisiana would later revive.

He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sudden light. When he could no longer see the light from his closed eyelids, he opened them again. Lying in the circle was a body, and he hoped that it was the right one.

He didn't know too many nations, not interacting with them too much. But he had given the name, and could only hope that the name and the body were the same.

…

When Romania arrived where the other nations were staying, he raised an eyebrow. It seemed as though they all decided to camp under the stars for the night.

He wondered what had brought all this on. Perhaps he could probe into someone's mind to see what they were thinking. And then twist those thoughts around.

There were still many nations awake, and it looked almost as though some of them were keeping guard.

He noticed Brazil and Netherlands going aside, and he frowned slightly. He followed after them, curious to see what they might be discussing if they wanted privacy. He ignored the ghostly nations hanging around, not acknowledging them at all. He wouldn't let them distract him again.

He overheard their conversation, and he gave a small smile. It would seem that part of his plan was going fine.

She would be worried about losing anyone close to her. And she would do anything to prevent that from happening.

He wanted to nudge Brazil and Netherlands in their ideal direction as well. And a few others.

He turned back and returned to the others. He looked around to see if one of his other targets were asleep, and he smirked when he noticed someone. He went towards that nation and entered the other's mind.

…

Slovenia noticed that Serbia started tossing and turning. He bit his lip. It wasn't the first time that it had happened. Ever since he recovered from the lobotomy, he was plagued by nightmares. And it was very common to see him tossing and turning at night.

But still, considering the fact that they were preparing for an attack from Romania, there was the chance that he wasn't suffering from regular nightmares, but an attack from Romania.

He was one of the volunteers for the first shift, and had a charm in his hand. He walked closer to Serbia, before kneeling next to him. Serbia moaned, and Slovenia didn't know whether or not anything happened. He didn't know whether or not it really was an attack from Romania, and if it was, he didn't know if it worked.

He could only hope that, if it _was_ Romania, everything would work out fine.

…

Romania felt a little irked. He didn't know why, but he was kicked out of Serbia's mind. It wasn't particularly _painful_ , but he could still feel that he had been pushed out by force.

He saw Slovenia kneeling nearby, and he saw something in his hand. It looked like he was holding a crystal charm. He narrowed his eyes, before his gaze went to Norway.

It would seem that they were really prepared for his presence. It was annoying, and he knew that if it happened too frequently, he would be forced to retreat.

But… why wouldn't he be prevented from entering Serbia's dream in the first place? Unless…

Of course. That was why it looked as though some of them were keeping guard, and why they were all in the same place. They only had a limited number of those charms, and they couldn't exactly predict who he would go after.

He wondered how they would even know that he was there. The only thing he could think of was that the ones suffering from his nightmares would be thrashing around in their sleep, or moaning, or…

Generally, they would be acting as though they were in a nightmare.

Romania had to think about this one. He couldn't simply go in without a purpose. He would need to be quick and efficient. He only had a limited amount of time to put his plans into action, and he needed to use it.

Of course, he didn't need too much time for those he intended to kill. All it would take was for him to go in and snuff them out. It just meant that he would be unable to play with them.

But there was someone that needed to be punished, and who was proving himself to be an utter nuisance. He glanced towards that someone, knowing that he wouldn't kill him, but he needed him out of the way.

And then they could find a way to get him back, and then punish him properly.

…

"Norway!" England shouted the moment he entered the dreamscape. "You need to wake up. Now!"

Norway's eyes widened in surprise.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Romania!"

Norway gasped, understanding the situation. He tried to push himself out of the dreamscape and into the waking world, but found that he couldn't.

"I… I can't," Norway whispered.

"Damn," England swore. "Then that means he's already here."

As though agreeing with him, there was a sudden crash of thunder, and the two jumped. Lightning revealed Romania, who grinned at them with his red eyes glowing.

"Well, well," he said. "Looks like the three of us are all together again. I bet you didn't think that I would be capable of doing something like this. Back when I was, how did you describe it again? 'The insufferable twit that needs to take the Arts more seriously'."

"Romania," England said. "Wait, you heard that?"

"I was never late to any of our meetings," Romania said coldly. "I lingered around to eavesdrop on you, before and after. I found it the best time to gather information: before and after meeting with an enemy."

"What are you doing here?" Norway demanded.

"You're a great nuisance. I saw those charms. Designed to keep me out. But it looks like you didn't make enough of them. So, how many are there?"

Norway didn't answer, his fists clenched by his side.

"No matter," Romania said. "It wouldn't be too much of a problem."

"What are you going to do?" Norway asked.

"Well, I can't kill you. You need to be punished, and we need to keep you as an example. But you're also interfering more than should be allowed. I think we need to do something about that."

Romania snapped his fingers, and chains burst from the ground, wrapping around Norway's wrists. He struggled against them for a moment, before being pulled to his knees.

"I think you should stay put for the time being," Romania said.

"You bastard!" England shouted, a ball of energy gathering in his hand.

"You're dead, Arthur," Romania cackled. "You may communicate through dreams, but that's all you can do."

As though proving his point, the ball of energy suddenly dissipated. England yelped in surprise.

"Well, this was fun," Romania said. "But I have more nightmares to bring. La revedere."

The two could do nothing as Romania left. England knelt down besides Norway.

"I'll get you out of this," England said.

"Can you?" Norway asked.

England hesitated.

"One link at a time," he said. "These chains need to be broken one link at a time. And unfortunately, break one, you don't break free."

"So it needs to be like this," Norway sighed. "Please, start breaking."

…

Romania smirked as he looked down at Norway one more time, before looking over at the rest. He would need to plant seeds as quick as possible in the minds of those they needed to manipulate or play with – those that were others' targets. And he could kill those that wouldn't be necessary.

It was time to play.

 **A few years ago I was on a school trip to a wildlife sanctuary, and on the last night we were all camping outside. And we really had to keep guard against the wildlife, specifically leopards, rhinos, hyenas, buffaloes, spiders (like the red roman that made a beeline for my head!) and scorpions. There are quite a few areas that allow something like this.**

 **People living in Africa really** _ **do**_ **hate it when people from other continents assume that it's a place where wild animals roam the streets, or people living in straw huts, etc. Just like how many people seem to assume that Africa is one large** _ **country**_ **, without individual nations in them. Or that the general assumption is that everyone living in Africa is black (it was kind of addressed in Mean Girls, if you want an example).**

 **Um, speaking of which… Turns out, someone was illegally breeding the lions, and they somehow escaped. And are still on the run. I think I might have seen one last week, but I didn't see it clearly. All I know is that it was a four-legged creature with light gold-brown fur. And there aren't any oxen with that colour…**

 **The situation described by Netherlands about White and Brazil is reflected in my own family. My dad's side (the Afrikaans side) prefers to keep distance, and they only rarely become affectionate. My mother's side (the Portuguese side) was the opposite, and she said that they would always hug each other if they walked past each other in the house. I had to explain to my mom that I'm a bit more like my dad in that regard, and I don't like sudden touches, especially around my arms or shoulders. But in general, it varies around South Africans. Those descended from the African tribes are a bit more open to contact than Afrikaners (especially Afrikaans men). A lot of Afrikaans girls greet each other with hugs, and it's even common to kiss someone you know really well, even on the lips. But there are quite a few that tolerate the hugs, and nothing else. A friend of my sister's wanted to hug me as a greeting, but had to stop herself first because she wasn't sure whether or not I'd be okay with it, despite knowing her for several years (hug as greeting, and little else). There was this one girl in primary school that always hugged me so tightly that I was sure my ribs would crack, though I never saw her doing it with anyone else.**


	97. Chapter 96

**Thanks to Elsa, Terra, pastaaddict, CheesecakeKittyCat and CivilReader2 for reviewing.**

 **Not too late today. Woohoo!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 96**

White, Slovenia and Singapore (who was the last volunteer) looked towards Netherlands and Brazil as they approached. White huffed in annoyance, glancing from one to the other.

"And what exactly were you up to?" she asked.

"We were just discussing something," Brazil said, laughing nervously.

White narrowed her eyes, and the other two smirked in amusement. All three of them knew that the discussion had been about White, and she wasn't too happy that they were talking about her behind her back.

"So, has anything happened?" Netherlands asked.

"Well, we're officially the last ones awake," Slovenia said. "And it looked like Serbia had a nightmare, but I don't know if it was Romania. He's been having a lot of nightmares lately."

"It's understandable," Brazil said, completely serious. "He's a lot like me in that regard. Emotional. Caring towards others, especially the ones I'm close to. Having to watch them all die and not caring about it… I can't even imagine it. It would probably be hell. And to have everything catching up to me…"

Brazil shook his head, and they all had to admit that the picture he painted was painfully clear. It was a mental torture, something that Amodi didn't employ too often, but which they were still good at.

"We should probably get back to work," Singapore said, glancing around. "The last thing we want is for our negligence to put someone in danger."

They all nodded, before they started wandering around the sleeping nations, the charms in their hands.

Brazil was thinking about what he had said. It had hurt, leaving the others behind. He felt incredibly guilty that he could join the fight against Amodi while they continued to be prisoners. But there was no other choice. If he had told them, then they would only get in trouble, and Amodi would have known what his method was. And if they knew and tried to break free themselves, only to fail…

He didn't want to know what Amodi would do to them. What Romano and India would be willing to do if they had tried to escape. If Brazil had told them that the way to escape would be to kill a member of Amodi and run away before the magic they used recovered. If anyone attempted to kill either Romano or India, then the other one would surely make the potential murderer suffer horribly.

Not only that, but India and Romano had many potential hostages. If something happened, then they had their pick of who to torture.

Brazil knew that it would most likely be the nightmare that Romania would give him. He would have to watch the others suffer. He would watch his _family_ suffer.

And White…

He knew that she would be brought into his torture somehow. But she wouldn't be harmed, physically at least. But if Romania were to use his dreams to torture him, then she…

He couldn't help but think that the worst possibility might happen. He knew that Israel was in love with her, but he had looked rather unhinged when they escaped from him. If White was _given_ to him, then Brazil could only imagine what he would do to her. It was something that horrified him. He didn't want that to happen.

He also couldn't help another feeling of nagging guilt. He had left his family to go after the woman he loved. They would probably be angry at him. He didn't want them to be angry.

He felt a light touch on his shoulder, and he jumped in surprise, spinning around to see White looking at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Sim," he said. "I just… I guess what I told Slovenia just hit home."

"You're worried about the others, aren't you?" White said, a soft smile on her face. "You feel guilty about leaving them."

He nodded his head in confirmation.

"Are you worried they might be angry at you?" she asked, to which he nodded again. "I don't think they are. I think they're more relieved that you had managed to get out of there, and that you're safe. You guys gave me that impression."

He stared at her in surprise, before smiling in gratitude.

"Thank you," he said. "What about you? Aren't you worried about the other Africans?"

"Sure I am," she said. "But I know that Amodi wouldn't harm them unnecessarily. Their compliance is more important to Amodi, and they wouldn't sabotage themselves. Judging by some of the things they've been doing in my country, and if they were doing the same to the others, they were trying to keep us as happy as possible. They're not going to torture any of the others in order to hurt me."

Brazil nodded, before he sighed.

"And the other South Americans are…" Brazil said. "Four of them are cannibalistic murderers and the others have been killed by those same cannibalistic murderers."

He subconsciously rubbed the spot where Argentina had bitten him, and White narrowed her eyes slightly.

"They can't hurt you anymore," White said.

Brazil nodded his head.

"I guess so," he said. "It's just… You know how it is. The things they did, the games they played."

"It's not easy to shake off," White said.

The two were silent for a while, listening to the others sleeping. They were also looking around, trying to determine whether or not someone was having a nightmare.

They _did_ notice that Netherlands was watching them, but he made no move to go towards them. Remembering what he had said to him earlier, Brazil glanced over towards White again. He would respect her space, but be there to support her if she needed it.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a whimper, and he turned to see that it was Taiwan, twitching in her sleep. He took the charm in hand and knelt beside her. She exhaled deeply, before it looked like she calmed down.

"I think Romania really is here," Brazil said.

"You might be right," White said. "Why else would she stop as soon as you came close?"

"We need to be careful. We don't want anyone to get hurt. And can you imagine how mad they'd be if we _don't_ manage to keep them all safe?"

White shuddered, before nodding her head.

"You're right," she said. "Let's go."

…

Romania was a little annoyed when he was forced out of Taiwan's dream. And then when he saw White and Brazil together.

He followed them, trying to catch their conversation, but they seemed to have been finished. He didn't know what it was. After trapping Norway, he had gone to Taiwan's dream. He had seen that Netherlands and Brazil had finished their discussion and that they had branched off. White and Brazil hadn't been _near_ each other. So it was possible that they had started their conversation while he was in Taiwan's dream.

He would probably need to inform Israel of White and Brazil growing close to each other. The Middle Eastern nation wouldn't be happy, but it would certainly fuel a fire that would be what they needed to give themselves an edge again.

Romania was aware that they were caught in a stalemate. Things had settled into a lull. And while their enemies couldn't really do anything at this point in time, the nations of Amodi _could_. But without knowing where they were, any efforts would be pointless.

It was no fun to torture someone if you couldn't see the torture.

And as for what he was doing now… It would seem that he would need to move faster. He glanced around, searching for his next victim before smirking.

…

She made her way to the place where she could feel a massive disturbance, and knew that it wasn't natural. The enemies were going to attack _this_ place, and it would only cause problems for everyone. It would be nothing short of a catastrophe.

She had adopted the nation as her own, though she had refrained from going to the mainland, until now. She knew that, should the enemies go through with what they were doing, too many people would die, and it would take a long time for the earth to recover.

She saw the humans planting bombs at the base, before going up towards the mouth. She knew that she couldn't use her usual methods to stop them. Doing so would be exactly what the enemy wanted.

Instead, she would use her power to prevent too much damage. Her own rampage had caused a lot, but it wouldn't be on the same scale as _this_.

The volcano goddess wouldn't let this volcano doom the whole world.

…

Russia was staring in horror, his feet rooted in place. He couldn't do anything. He was useless.

He watched as Belarus tortured Ukraine. He saw his younger sister repeatedly stab his elder sister in the chest. He saw Taiwan and Vietnam try to get to them, but they were barred by Switzerland and Wales.

The scene shifted, and he found himself in the shack. The shack, with the trapdoor that he couldn't open, and he could hear the screams. He could also hear Ukraine's screams on the outside of the shack.

"You failed them," a familiar voice said, and Russia narrowed his eyes.

"Romania!" he shouted. "Romania, stop this now!"

He could hear the screams growing louder, and his hands trembled in rage. He couldn't move, but he didn't have to. When he heard Romania's voice, he knew that this was all a dream.

…

Romania left Russia's mind, a little perturbed, but pleased that he could get under the Russian's skin. At least he hadn't been forced out this time. And Russia's breathing was accelerated, and nothing more.

He saw that Ukraine was hovering nearby, looking sadly at Russia before glaring at Romania. Romania only smirked, knowing that it must have tortured the ghosts to be able to be near their loved ones, and yet they were worlds apart.

He tried looking around for a new victim, before finding one that looked promising.

…

Portugal heard a knock on his bedroom door, and he frowned, wondering who it could be. He knew that it wasn't Romano or India, as they didn't knock, so it could only have been one of his former colonies, or perhaps one of Netherlands's relatives. And he couldn't figure out what anyone would want at this time.

He opened the door and saw Mozambique, and she gave a small smile.

"Sorry to bother you," she said. "I just… I need some…"

She gulped nervously, before holding up a hairbrush. Portugal's eyes widened as she gave the brush to him.

"Come in," he said, smiling fondly.

She gave her own relieved smile before entering, closing the door behind her. Portugal went to sit on his bed, with Mozambique sitting on the floor in front of him.

It was something that he had always done to his female colonies. He would comb or brush their hair, running his fingers through it as well. At first they weren't too fond of this western custom, until they realised how much softer their hair was, and how much easier it was to handle. And Portugal always tried to be gentle.

It was also his way to spend time with the girls. He didn't really know much about how to play with them, and not all of them were fond of hunting or fishing. He also didn't have a female helping hand. Spain at least had Belgium to help out, while Portugal didn't have anyone like that.

But brushing someone else's hair… If someone, especially a girl, allowed you to do that, it was a symbol of trust. It was also a treat for the one whose hair was being brushed, if done right. He had learned that during his imperial days. At first he thought they didn't _know_ how to brush their own hair, but then he saw Angola brushing hers furiously while crying. And of course, he thought that she was hurting herself and tried to come to her rescue. But while he was busy, he noticed that she stopped crying, and she said that she thought he was too busy to brush her hair.

He had realised that day that the girls would come to him and ask him to brush their hair, but whenever he returned from a long trip, they wouldn't have a rat's nest on their heads, as expected. He realised that they liked him doing that, or in general just playing with their hair. And when he realised that the other colonisers didn't really do that, didn't _realise_ that, he felt a little satisfied. The only exception, of course, was France, who not only realised it as well, but also commended Portugal on making time for his little girls.

And Portugal would admit that he had felt smug when France had said that in front of Spain, and Spain's eyes were bulging. Of course, by that time, a lot of the colonies had started to enter their teens, and if Spain was having troubles with them…

It eventually ended, and Portugal had felt a little hurt when his girls no longer came to him for their little bonding time. It especially hurt with the fall of his empire. So having one of those girls come to him now…

"I missed this," Portugal said.

Mozambique chuckled slightly, and he gently ran the brush through her hair.

"This always made me feel safe," she said. "Have you ever seen monkeys grooming each other?"

"On TV," he said.

"This always made me understand how it must feel," she said. "All animals have their own ways of doing this. It's how they socialised and build bonds with each other."

He nodded, even though she couldn't see it. He ran his hands through the hair that he had been brushing up to now, feeling the smooth curls. He would admit that he always loved hair like this.

"You're worried about Brazil, aren't you?" Mozambique said.

"How can you tell?" he asked.

"I could see it. Whenever Romano or India are nearby, you act as though you're waiting for them to say something about Brazil. Anything. And you don't want to ask, because you're afraid that it might give them leverage over you."

He nodded his head again.

"You're right," he said softly.

"If it helps, I don't think _they_ know," she said. "If someone in Amodi _does_ know, then they would inform them. And if it's something bad, they'd tell you. They'd want to rub it in your face that you were unable to help Brazil."

He widened his eyes in surprise, before chuckling.

"I suppose you have a point," he said. "No news is good news. But how are you holding out, filha?"

"When I found out that Brazil's in love with White South Africa, I was surprised," she said. "But… I could see it working. And when he got out, I hoped that he was going to her. She's my neighbour, and with Black dead… I was hoping that something good would happen to her. Focusing on them makes it easier to deal with things here."

"How so?"

"Because it _isn't_ here. Us being here… They don't force us to do chores. We do them because we don't want to live in a pigsty. And they don't go around torturing us, and they don't make demands regarding our countries… It makes me worry that they're going to do something to us when we least expect it."

"I see. You're worried about the unknown, and paranoid. You're expecting an attack at any time."

"Aren't you?"

"Sim, filha. I am. I worry about whatever it is they want from me. I don't even understand what it's supposed to be. And if I don't comply with whatever it is… I worry that they might punish one of you in order to punish me."

"You're right," she sighed. "Why couldn't they just leave us alone?"

"Because they're warmongering," he said. "And when a nation is like this, it's hard to reason with them. And it looks like they were looking forward to this for a long time. I'm worried that this might be the last war. And I'm worried that by the end of it, too many of us would have died."

There was another knock on the door, and the two looked at each other in confusion.

"Who is it?" Portugal called out.

"Angola. Could I come in?"

"Sim."

The door opened, and Angola looked nervously at him. She was also holding a hairbrush, and Portugal smiled.

…

America was drumming his fingers nervously. Louisiana had gone into the building designated for magic/voodoo, and he didn't even know _who_ was in there. Who was the nation that they were going to revive?

Part of him hoped that it was England. He wanted to reconcile with his former brother, and he wanted to have someone familiar back. Someone that had been there when he was a child. Who had helped chase away his nightmares.

He felt infantile for such a wish, but he couldn't help it. He just really wanted England back. He wouldn't admit it, but a part of him was afraid of the war. He was afraid of anyone else dying, and he would have been unable to stop it. He would have failed as a hero.

Pakistan came to sit next to him, and the two remained in silence for a long time.

"How can you be so calm?" America asked.

"I'm not," Pakistan said. "I'm scared out of my mind. We don't know what's happening to anyone else. Who's being attacked _now_?"

"Yeah. You don't look scared."

"I'm from a part of the world where you have to keep your face a mask. We need to be careful about what we show."

"I should probably learn that."

"No, I don't think so. It would be too scary. So, who do you think they're bringing back?"

"I don't know. Let's just hope they'd be willing to help."

"I'm sure they will."

 **Remember when I said last week that I don't really like being touched? I make an exception for my hair. I like it when people play with it. In fact, I** _ **encourage**_ **it as much as possible. And when I have a particularly huge and stubborn knot, I go to my sister to help out, and I like the feeling (when it's not painful). I don't go to my mom, because she doesn't understand that you need to be gentle. I'm particularly sensitive on my scalp, you see. My hair is also thick and curly. One time, during exam, one of the supervisors walked past and took a lock of hair, feeling the texture and everything. I kept still, but it looked like she was curious about my curls. It was random, but I didn't mind too much. I'm also one of the few people who could go to sleep with a wet head of hair and wake up looking as though I came straight from the salon. But I stay away from a hairdryer. My sister tried to style my hair last year, and let's just say I've seen afros that are flatter than my hair at that time. After giving up, she opted for running her fingers through it and said that it was 'fluffy'. I didn't mind her attempt to tame my hair, but afterwards I had to dunk it in the water just to get it flat again. I'm also banned from using volumizing shampoo.**

 **And regarding the lions… Apparently, the farmers are saying that they could stay. Since it happens often that livestock gets stolen, or the farmhouse gets robbed… Having the lions there as an implicit threat is pretty effective. Yeah, this is a country where one would rather have a predator near your livestock than risk the chance of getting robbed. It's like this one joke that someone bought a pair of boerboels (a breed of guard dog) to prevent being robbed, and then someone stole the dogs. Or that a security beam at my own house was stolen, and nothing else.**


	98. Chapter 97

**Thanks to Pink Tourmaline, Eternal Nexus Warrior, I'm a potato, Margaret, Terra, Inky-Paws, Starpool2, pastaaddict, topaz3 and two anons for reviewing.**

 **I'm sorry about the sudden and unexpected hiatus. But yeah. I'm in France for the next few months, and it took some time to settle in, and we didn't get internet until last week, and I had a bit of writer's block for this chapter. But everything should be back to normal.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 97**

"I think it's about time for the next shift," Brazil said.

Netherlands, who was with him at the time, nodded his head, and they alerted the others on guard. Afterwards, they all went around to the nations that were supposed to be replacing them.

When Slovenia went to wake Russia, he was suddenly grabbed by the throat. Russia's eyes were red, and it didn't look as though he even knew who Slovenia was. Or perhaps, it looked as though he didn't know that he was an ally.

"R-Russia," Slovenia gasped. "P-please, let go."

"Russia!" Turkey shouted, going towards the other nation. "Let him go. What's gotten into you?"

The red faded from Russia's gaze, but he still looked angry. Slovenia was really starting to grow afraid of the larger nation.

"You didn't do your jobs," Russia said.

"What?" Netherlands demanded. "We've been keeping an eye on everyone."

"Then why is it that Romania still managed to come to me?"

Everyone was silent when they realised what Russia was saying. White moved closer.

"What did he show you?" she asked.

Russia glanced towards her, and his expression softened. Probably because she had received a visit from Romania a few days ago and knew how bad it could be.

He released Slovenia and stood, going towards White. Without a word, she understood that he wanted to speak with her in private about his dream, and so she went off with him. Brazil and Netherlands watched, but they didn't interfere as they watched the two of them discuss out of everyone else's earshot.

"Did anyone else see any signs of Russia having a nightmare?" Singapore asked.

"I passed him earlier," Netherlands said. "He was twitching and everything, but when I approached with the charm, it didn't stop, so I assumed it was an ordinary nightmare."

"You don't think that Romania decided to change it up, did you?" Brazil asked.

"In what way?" Singapore asked.

"Only staying long enough to start the nightmare, but not long enough for us to chase him out."

"Can he do that?"

"I don't know," Slovenia said, his voice hoarse. "We should probably ask Norway tomorrow."

The nations who had been on guard gave the charms to the new guards, and they all found a place to lie down. But everyone knew that they probably wouldn't be getting any sleep that night. Not with Romania being a threat and the possibility existing that he could still attack them.

…

Romania had caught the conversation between the different nations, and he was a little irked to know that they had caught on. Before the war started, they would have dismissed anything to do with magic as impossible or nonsense, and he would have been able to get away with anything.

It was strange how they suddenly returned to the beliefs of the old times, when everyone believed that magic was everywhere. It had died in the last few years, and Romania had been able to do things very stealthily. But of course, the magic wasn't as strong as it could have been.

It had changed in the recent few weeks. The nations believed more in magic, and since technology had failed them, humans were inching closer to superstition. Magic was growing stronger, but it also meant that suspicions about the magical approach were higher.

But no matter. He had done quite a lot of damage, singling out the nations that he wanted to draw closer to their intended positions. There were only a few exceptions. And he would need to wait for them to go to sleep.

But in the meantime… Perhaps he could focus on someone they needed dead. Looking around, he smirked when he saw the perfect target.

…

Michoacán was breathing deeply, trying to stave off the hunger and thirst, but also trying to concentrate. She needed this to work. It was her best bet of getting in touch with her allies.

Her eyes were closed, and underneath her eyelids, she could see colours. She focused on those colours, knowing that it could make a large difference. Eventually the colours started to take shape and solidify, becoming a fantastical creature.

An alebrijes, what she had been hoping for.

"Go to Norway," she said. "Tell him where they could find me. Please. Tell him… I know that I don't mean much, but… Please. This is torture. Please. Just get me out of here!"

The colours faded, and she wondered if they would in fact deliver her message. Norway should be able to find her. Even though she didn't get a lot of new information or anything.

Well, there _was_ the fact that Canada had left. She had stopped hearing his footsteps above, and when he had last come to see her, she had a sinking suspicion that he wanted to savour the moment before he couldn't see it again for some while. She hoped that she was right.

But if she wasn't and Canada returned before long… Well, at least they knew where they could kill Canada.

…

Cortez shifted, staring at one of the sleeping nations. The other's chest stopped moving, and a few seconds later someone emerged.

Cortez recognised this someone as an enemy, and he hissed. He lunged, but went straight through him.

Romania jumped slightly when he saw this creature. He didn't know what exactly it was. It wasn't European, that much he knew. Shaking his head, he turned to the now-dead nation.

"One less useless nation hanging around," he said, before he looked up.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw the colourful animals coming towards him, before he realised that these were dream creatures. And while those of the corporeal world and those of the afterlife couldn't interact with him, these creatures probably _could_.

What looked to be a jaguar charged at him, and he ducked out of the way, his arm being slashed by the creature. He winced in pain, before glancing towards the three nations that he _needed_ to push to the desired place, but who were still awake. The creatures reared again, and Romania decided that now would be a good time to leave.

Giving one last look towards Netherlands's direction, he focused on his body, before feeling the tug that indicated that he would return.

Cortez gave a contented growl, before he went to lay down with his current 'master', at least while his real one was away. He could sense that this one wouldn't wake up, and as luck would have it, the alebrijes went into _his_ dream.

…

Romania jolted up, and Finland was at his side in an instant, concerned about him. Romania took a few moments to settle down, before he hugged Finland.

"There, there," Finland soothed. "Did things go badly? But, you were gone a lot longer than last time."

"D-da," Romania said. "This time, I managed to get inside many of their heads, and I managed to kill someone. But… I was attacked by something. Creatures. Magical creatures. Those that I don't know."

"So, they're not European. Asian?"

"N-no. I already checked on the myths of Asia. And Africa. Which leaves the Americas and Oceania."

"What now?"

"I'm going to rest a while, and then I'm going to do research. Could you… rest beside me?"

Finland smiled.

"Of course," he said.

Finland lied down beside him, and Romania snuggled up to him, before closing his eyes. Finland smiled fondly as he stroked the other's head, listening to the even breathing that indicated that Romania was asleep. While he had gone to the astral realm, his breathing had been next to none, and his pulse was also barely there. It really scared Finland to see his lover like that, but now that he knew that everything was alright, he could relax. Breathing in the scent of his lover, Finland closed his eyes.

…

"Can't you work any faster?" Norway demanded.

"I'm going as fast as I can," England snapped back. "At least it's _something_ I can do."

Norway flinched, knowing that England was a bit bitter about being dead. The two lapsed into an awkward silence, before Norway remembered something.

"You said that one of America's states is attempting necromancy, right?" Norway asked.

"That's right," England said. "They managed to revive Jordan."

"Jordan died? Why didn't I hear of that?"

"We didn't want to burden you with that news until we were sure that she could be revived."

Norway nodded his head in understanding.

"So… It works?" he asked. "You said that they managed to revive Jordan."

"Yes…" England said hesitantly. "But… well, it's not like the revivals we're accustomed to. For one thing… Our bodies don't heal afterwards."

"What do you mean?"

"Jordan was shot in the throat. And… the wound is still there, and she can still feel the wound. She also feels disconnected, and I think that after this war is over, she wants to cross over to the afterlife."

"So… resurrection, but the bodies aren't restored."

"Exactly. Some of us don't want to be revived because… Because we were tortured before we died. And if we were to return with our bodies like that… It's not worth it."

"I see. And what about you?"

England chuckled, but it was a sad and bitter sound.

"Wales really put me through my paces," England said. "The idea was to repay everything I've done to _him_. Well, he certainly did _that_. And more. All four of us… We didn't die peacefully, that's for sure. We'd certainly feel that if we were resurrected. It… It's not worth it. Not even Patrick wants to be reborn, and out of all of us, he was the one that received the least amount of punishment."

Norway nodded.

"You weren't in the best shape, were you?" he asked.

England shook his head.

"And do you know what the worst part is?" England asked. " _I_ was the one that drove Wales to that. Amodi preyed on his pain and insecurities, but I was the one that caused him to have that pain. They exploited his vulnerability, and now he's one of their loyal dogs. All because of my blasted ego."

Norway shook his head.

"I remember that Denmark used to be like that as well," he said. "And sometimes I would join in. Sweden wasn't as blatant, but he was still a grand power. We drove Finland to that edge as well. Do you know about any of the other Amodi nations?"

England nodded.

"Italy and his brothers wanted to avoid the same fate as Rome," England said. "And so they were cunning. Italy and Romano were also slightly annoyed by their stunted growth, and Austria and Spain… You know how they were like. Poland was a bit annoyed with everyone that made him the designated target. Even though the partitions were planned… it wasn't _their_ choice."

"You know that you don't make sense, right?" Norway asked.

"What I mean is, Poland allowed himself to be partitioned, but they weren't the ones that made that choice. Romania mostly did it because of the promised torture he could inflict, but Turkey didn't exactly treat him right."

"Do you think that it's our faults they ended up like that?"

"Some of them were already mentally unstable. But… Yes. I think we played a major part in their transformations into what they are now."

Norway sighed.

"We were so stupid," he said. "We were blinded by our own delusions of grandeur. Our greed. We never saw that we were hurting someone else."

"I think we _did_ see," England said. "We just… We _enjoyed_ it. Because we… Because we were afraid that something like that would happen to _us_. And we were revelling in the fact that it _wasn't_ us. What I've done… I know that there's no way to take it back."

"If we manage to end this war," Norway said, "then we should ensure that our ties are strong. That no one does anything… unsavoury to another nation. We can't do anything when our bosses order us, but… Well, we don't have to make it personal."

"But we did. We're the reasons why so many of them became twisted and warped. And then they also took advantage of those that were simply vulnerable. Like Wales."

Norway looked sympathetically towards England.

"You're feeling guilty about what you did to him, aren't you?" Norway asked.

"Of course I am," England said. "I was deliberately cruel to him. Scotland and Ireland fought back, and they didn't relent. But Wales… He was careful. He didn't want to seriously hurt his brothers. I didn't share his sentiments, and I took advantage of the fact that he rarely fought back."

"And you never apologised?"

"No. Only when it was too late. Only when he was torturing us. Only when I saw the effects my abuse, as well as Amodi's manipulations had on him. Those Bonds… They physically reopened many of his wounds. The magic involved there… I can't even imagine willingly allowing myself to be bound by something that would physically damage me whenever I had doubts. That constantly reminded me of all the bad times in life. Those Bonds of theirs… It contributed to the fact that so many of them have become psychopaths."

"Any way to free them?" Norway asked.

England shook his head.

"Not at this point in time," he said. "Those Bonds are too strong. They are connected through their hatred, and the hate of each nation is combined and travels along the ribbons. It would have been worse, had they not been connected with love as well. In fact, that's the reason why so many of them are in a relationship with each other. And there is a _potential_ chance that the hatred between them would weaken, but… That means killing them to the point where the Bonds are fragile, and they might break free. But unfortunately, their love makes it dangerous. If their lovers are killed, the rage is added to the Bonds, and it makes them particularly dangerous."

"Which means the best way to weaken the Bonds is to kill someone who doesn't have a lover," Norway said. "And… that would be?"

"Philippines," England said. "And the micronations aren't bound by hate, so trying to kill them would be useless."

"Not to mention, particularly low. I don't think I want to kill a child. Anyone else?"

"Somalia, Argentina, Venezuela and Chile. But… I wouldn't go after Argentina. Out of the South Americans, she's the most… unstable of them. Brazil could attest to that."

"Would that be enough to weaken the Bonds?"

England shook his head.

"Unfortunately not," he said. "Not to the point where it could actually make a difference. You _did_ manage to kill Tokyo and Puerto Rico, but using this method… It, unfortunately, wouldn't work."

"And what about killing Italy or Poland?" Norway asked.

"Killing their leaders would certainly disorient them. But the best thing to do would be to kill _both_ of them, preferably simultaneously. Only killing one of them… With or without the Bonds, they are so unhinged that…"

"I understand. Killing only one of them… If the other manages to escape alive, then…" Norway's eyes widened. "W-wait a minute. Molossia and Liechtenstein were a couple, and… Canada and Egypt…"

England nodded his head, confirming Norway's suspicions.

"They are now so unhinged that there is no way that they could be redeemed," England said. "And they've already started to act on their vengeance. Liechtenstein's, fortunately, has been put on hiatus due to being shot in the head. She's recovering at Amodi's base. But her actions were also leading America to his breaking point. She went after his states, after all."

"And Canada?"

"He's… Well, he took the time to take out his anger on Michoacán – I had Spain help me with the pronunciation."

Norway smirked, seeing the embarrassed look on England's face.

"He didn't torture her, but she is currently suffering Quebec's fate," England said.

Norway flinched.

"We should probably get her as soon as possible," Norway said.

"It's fortunate that, as a region, she's not bound by the same rules as nations," England said. "And that Canada isn't at the base. But you would still need to deal with Kumajiro, his pet bear."

"And how much of a threat is the bear?"

England shifted nervously.

"More than you might realise," he said. "Let's just say, Amodi modified him with a bit of magic. Not his mind, since his loyalty would remain with Canada, regardless. And it's a similar case with Egypt's dog. I wouldn't recommend going to Egypt now."

Norway nodded.

"What is it that Canada's doing?" he asked. "If he's not at his base…"

England looked pained for a moment, before opening his mouth to speak. However, before he could answer Norway's question, he was interrupted by sudden flashes of light. The two turned, expecting to see Romania again, only to see colourful animals.

"What the…?" England questioned.

…

Mexico groaned, grabbing her cell phone. She and Confederacy were lying in bed, still recovering from their burns.

"What is it?" she asked.

Since communications for everyone except Amodi nations were down, she knew that it was an ally, or perhaps one of her people.

"I have a favour to ask you."

"Romania?" she questioned. "I'm taking a holiday. Too much pain. Not doing anything."

"Nothing like _that_. Do you have any books on your mythology?"

"Why?"

"I'm trying to do research."

She sighed.

"Give me three hours," she said. "I think I have a few books with my myths. Do you want present, or would Aztec and Mayan myths work too?"

"Anything you have," Romania said.

"Alright. Any reason _why_?"

"I was attacked by magical creatures that I didn't recognise. Which means that they aren't European or Asian. I'll also ask for South American and Oceanic legends from the others."

"Alright. As long as I'm not the only person you're bothering."

Mexico hung up the phone, before she stood.

"Is this going to take long?" Confederacy asked.

"I don't think so," Mexico said. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon."

 **Also, to make up for the hiatus… I'm posting the prologue for The World Meets Canada. I know that a lot of people have been looking forward to it, and now the wait is over.**


	99. Chapter 98

**Thanks to Terra, Inky-Paws, pastaaddict and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 98**

"Dammit," Turkey grunted. "So, looks like we couldn't stop Romania. We couldn't even protect ourselves."

"I'll work on more charms," Norway said, a bit grumpily.

After he was visited by the alebrijes, they helped him break out of his bonds. He was able to wake up, but by that time Romania was long gone, and the damage had been done. Not a lot of nations had gotten a lot of sleep.

And they had realised that Romania had succeeded in killing Jersey. The rest of the Chanel Islands were understandably upset. Especially since it took them so long to realise that she was dead.

"Let's hope America is having better luck," China sighed. "What's he doing, anyway?"

"With two of his states, they're trying their luck at necromancy," Norway said.

Some of the others looked to him in concern, while the others were clueless.

"What does that mean?" Netherlands asked.

"One of his states knows how to bring the dead back to life," Norway said. "When confronting Liechtenstein, she managed to kill Jordan. They managed to bring her back to life. Now they're planning to do it with some of the others."

"Why 'some'?" Singapore asked.

"Because they don't heal afterwards."

Norway didn't have to say any more. They all understood what he was implying. And they all knew about Amodi's penchant for torture. Imagining having to return after suffering through those tortures…

"What are they planning to do afterwards?" Greenland asked.

"We have more people to fight against Amodi," Norway said. "And they know how to kill nations. And they'll be a lot harder to kill than even _us_. Um, _you_."

None of them missed the pained look on Norway's face when he reminded himself of the fact that he wasn't a nation anymore. It was still a sore subject. And they could all relate. After the amount of time they had each spent as nations, thinking of _not_ being nations… It was a fate that none of them wanted to endure.

"In the meantime," Norway said, trying to steer them away from the awkward conversation, "we could try to rescue Michoacán. Canada isn't there, and she isn't bound by the same rules as the nations, being a state and all…"

"That sounds like a good idea," Quebec said quietly, surprising most of the others.

Quebec knew that Michoacán was suffering the same fate that he had been forced to endure, and so he was eager to help her escape from it.

"Alright," Turkey said. "Are we going to use magic again?"

"We have to," Norway said. "It's our only way to travel, for now. Any volunteers?"

"I'm eager," Turkey said, a wide grin on his face.

"I'd also prefer it for Russia to go," Norway said. "Although Canada isn't there, his bear is."

"But he's such a little bear," Russia said. "He shouldn't be a threat."

"Actually… Apparently, they used their magic to make sure that he would be a threat."

"…Okay," Russia said cheerfully.

"So," Turkey said, "who else is coming along?"

…

"How long are they going to be busy?" America asked.

"I reckon a while," Thailand said. "Cookie?"

America looked towards Thailand before shrugging and taking a cookie. Thailand had been a little stressed and bored, and so had decided that he would bake and cook. Pakistan, in return, had tried to fight his own feelings of stress and boredom by fixing up the houses. America would occasionally help him.

"Any idea who it would be?" Pakistan asked.

"No clue," Jordan said. "But hopefully, whoever it is would have a complete list of nations that are willing to come back."

"Do _you_ know of anyone?" America asked.

Jordan smiled sadly.

"England doesn't want to," she said. "He's suffered enough."

America flinched, but he tried to pass it off as nothing.

"England?" he asked. "Why would I care about that stuffy… I'm not…"

"America," Thailand said, "we know that England raised you as his little brother. And we could all clearly see that you wanted to be his friend. We've been around long enough to recognise things like that."

"We also notice that whenever England is mentioned, you get this look in your eyes," Pakistan added.

"What look?" America asked.

"One of regret," Jordan said. "You also miss him. You were close as brothers, but when you became independent, that bond fell apart."

"W-what would you know about it?"

Thailand sighed.

"You _do_ know that we're all older than you, don't you?" Thailand asked.

"We've seen a _lot_ more than you could possibly imagine," Pakistan said.

America looked as though he was having difficulty thinking of something to say, and he abruptly stood to leave. The others all watched him with grins on their faces.

"He's in denial," Jordan said.

"We'll see how it goes when it sinks in," Pakistan said.

…

Switzerland was resting as the child eagerly looked at the ground below, having never been in a plane before. He had finally managed to locate this child, Stanryo.

And he was tired, and was more than happy to allow Wales to take over. He didn't think that there was anyone else, and so he could return to base, or perhaps go back to his own country to rest a while. South was busy, and he didn't want to interrupt his lover.

…

Bhutan yawned, checking the dashboard to see what the time was. They had been driving through the night, making turns while the passengers slept. They had been in Myanmar's capital when they had started, and were nearing the Chinese border.

They really hoped that China would be able and willing to help. They had no other idea about what they could do. All they knew was that they _needed_ to get to safety.

Nepal groaned in his sleep, and Bhutan felt sorry for the poor guy. Since Nepal was the one being attacked, he had been exempted from driving. It was both for his sake and theirs. They _really_ didn't want him driving while he had sporadic bursts of pain. It wouldn't kill them, but it would still most likely be painful.

It was still a while until Myanmar would take over driving from him. It would probably be a good idea to stop and rest, but they couldn't afford to. Nepal had described _exactly_ what was going on in his country, and they didn't like the explanations. It meant that the nations of Amodi were doing things _personally_ , and their armies were ready. They weren't using bombs. They were doing it the old-fashioned way. And they were killing as many people as possible while destroying everything else that they could.

And they were currently in Nepal, which meant that they didn't have a lot of time left before they reached the rest of their lands. And they also needed to get Nepal away. They knew well about what Amodi did to their victims, or at least they knew that they killed. They didn't know the full extent, but judging by the assault on Nepal, it wasn't good.

…

Vietnam looked towards the south, a frown on her face. She was looking in the direction of her land, sensing something.

There was someone there. Another nation. That nation wasn't attacking anyone, but she couldn't deny the possibility that it might be a member of Amodi. Then again, it might also be someone that fled their own land and was hiding.

Only one way to find out: Norway.

…

Vatican walked down to the kitchen, having just woken up. As he passed the living room, he caught sight of Antarctica, simply staring at the ceiling.

"Is something wrong?" Vatican asked.

"Is there nothing for me to do?" Antarctica asked. "Maybe letting me go back to Russia?"

Vatican was silent as he contemplated what the continent had said. Basically, he was bored, and having a bored Antarctica wouldn't be doing anyone any favours.

"I'll ask Feli about it later," Vatican said. "In the meantime, would you like breakfast?"

"Anything that isn't cooked," Antarctica said.

Vatican nodded his head while inwardly shaking it. He supposed that it had to do with the fact that Antarctica lived isolated without a lot of resources, but he preferred to eat his food raw. And his first experience with _cooked_ food didn't go over so well. It was still a bit disgusting for the rest of them, though.

But he really _would_ have to speak to Italy about giving Antarctica something to do. It would be a shame to simply let their strongest member remain idle.

…

"No!" the little Haiti cried as she struggled in Chile's grip.

The people shrank away, especially when seeing his military uniform. He had changed into it earlier to make things easier on himself. After all, a soldier carrying a little girl was a different thing from having a random man carrying her.

And considering the fact that he was covered in blood, they didn't want to try anything with him.

He was a little upset that he had to kill everyone at the retirement home. Not that he didn't enjoy the killing, but he felt that it was… beneath him. Killing people that could barely run away, and who couldn't fight back. It wasn't fun. And killing elderly people was an insult to his skills.

Oh well. At least he could get back on track. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled Italy's number.

"What is it?" Italy demanded.

"I managed to get Haiti junior," Chile said. "Where should I take her?"

"Well, I don't think you should take her to Wales. We don't want her to be a bad influence on the other kids. Take her to Africa. I'm sure Libya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eretria would know what to do with her."

"Understood."

He hung up the phone before staring down at the little girl, who had stopped her struggles and was crying now.

"Guess what?" he said. "Soon enough, I'm going to be rid of you."

The girl whimpered, and Chile rolled his eyes before dialling a different number.

"Argentina?" he said. "I'm back in the game. Please tell me that there's still a plaything left."

…

"There's no one from Amodi currently in your country," Norway told Vietnam. "They're more focused right now on nations _not_ in our group. They want to personally kill us, and since they don't know where we are, they're settling for someone that they know they can find."

"So then," Vietnam said, "who's in my country?"

"Think about it. What usually happens during a war when non-combatants want to leave their homes when turned into a battlefield for a place that should be safer?"

"Refugees. You're saying that someone is in my country seeking refuge?"

Norway nodded.

"After all, that's what _I_ did in order to get away from Amodi," he said.

"So then, who is it?" Vietnam asked.

Norway shrugged.

"Not sure," he said. "England told me that a _lot_ of neutral nations so far are moving around, banding together for security's sake. He didn't give me a list of who's moving around, or where they're going."

Vietnam nodded her head.

"I need to find out who it is," she said. "And I would probably need to bring them to safety, if they're fleeing from Amodi."

"Good idea," Norway said. "Take Adamastor."

"Considering General Winter took Russia's group, I would need to. Unless _you'd_ be willing to take me?"

"Busy with the charms. And… I need to tell Cyprus something."

…

"Thank you for your help, General," Russia said.

General Winter grunted in annoyance before disappearing. They all knew that Russia would be able to call him back when it was over, so they didn't have a problem with that.

Along with Russia and Turkey, Brazil and White had been forced to come along. Both of them were experts when it came to animals (but not without protesting that they didn't know how to handle _bears_ ), and both of them knew a thing or two about lock picking. After all, they would need to get Michoacán out.

Though neither of them were particularly happy about being in Amodi territory. They were aware of the fact that they were priority targets of Amodi, and they didn't want to think about what would happen if something went wrong. Neither of them wanted to return to being prisoners, especially since they knew that they would face punishment from Amodi for their escape.

"So, where would she be?" Turkey asked.

"I think the basement would be a good option," Brazil said.

They heard padded feet, tensing. Soon enough, a small polar bear appeared, and it frowned.

"You don't belong here," the bear said.

Turkey scoffed.

" _That's_ what we have to be worried about?" he asked.

The bear growled, a threatening sound. The nations stared in horror as the bear started to grow, soon enough towering over them and looking just a little bit demonic.

"Me and my big mouth," Turkey muttered.

…

"I wonder where Nepal went," North said casually.

"Maybe he decided to go to another place," South suggested.

"Do you think anyone is stupid enough to do that?" Philippines asked.

No one answered, and Philippines nodded her head.

"Right," she said. "Stupid question."

"So, who do you think he would go to?" South asked.

"China is a distinct possibility," North said. "Being a neighbour, and they definitely know that China is an enemy of ours."

"How are we going to find him _there_?" Philippines asked.

"I think we could ignore Nepal for now," South said. "But maybe we should send a few bombs near the border."

"Right," North said. "And we can go to the next nation."

Philippines yawned.

"Could we rest first?" she asked. "We haven't slept at all, and we've been moving rather fast."

North and South Korea exchanged a look before shrugging.

"Fair enough," North said. "After all, we _have_ been very busy. And we _have_ been quite successful. I think we can afford it."

"Thank you!" Philippines exclaimed.

…

Romania yawned, looking at his watch with a book opened in front of him. After taking the time to rest and allowing Mexico to gather all of the books she had that he might find useful, he had been researching all night, trying to find a clue about what he had encountered the previous night.

He had also received some materials from other sources, and he would work on them soon.

He also knew that he would have to report to Italy. Hopefully, the other would be satisfied that this time, it had gone a lot better. So with a sigh, he took out his cell phone and dialled Italy's number.

"Yes Romania?" Italy asked, and he seemed tired.

"I used astral projection again last night," Romania said. "And I managed to get into the minds of quite a few of them, and I even managed to kill one of the regions."

"How many of them?"

"The only ones among our targets I _couldn't_ reach were South Africa, Brazil and Netherlands. They were keeping guard. They seemed to be prepared for my attacks, but I managed to find a way around them."

"Russia? China? Turkey?"

"I managed to get all of them, with varying results. Russia picked up on the fact that I was there, but the others remained oblivious."

"Good. How long is it going to take to try again?"

"A few days."

"Then spend these days wisely. We can't let anything go wrong again."

"Understood," Romania said, flinching slightly.

He neglected to mention the magical creatures he had been attacked by, since he didn't want to deliver bad news. He hoped that Italy just assumed that it had started to become difficult maintaining the spell for such a long time. Romania _did_ warn him about that.

As soon as the call was disconnected, he went back to his research. He wouldn't let anything interfere the next time.

As he turned the page, his eyes widened in recognition.

…

Norway was slammed against the nearest tree, the front of his shirt being in Cyprus's grip. Cyprus looked furious.

"Why didn't you tell me this _before_?!" Cyprus demanded.

Norway couldn't answer, knowing that he wouldn't have one. Instead, he tried a different approach.

"There's still time," Norway said. "You could cut him off before he…"

"Take me to him!" Cyprus ordered. "Take me there right now!"

…

White managed to sneak past the bear. She was looking for the basement. The sooner they managed to find Michoacán, the better.

She opened many different doors until finding one that was locked. Figuring that she was on the right track, she knelt down and examined the lock.

This wouldn't be _too_ difficult.

…

Louisiana came out of her shack, looking a little… scary. Mostly because of the dark circles under her eyes, the garb she was wearing (trying to go for a more ceremonial look) and with her hair extremely frizzy.

Massachusetts snickered when he saw her, and it earned him a glare.

"Please tell me that you managed?" America said nervously.

"Of course I did," Louisiana scoffed. "What do you take me for?"

"So, who was it?" Thailand asked. "Who did you bring back?"

"Well, based on what had happened with America before, we decided to go with someone who could help him with any lingering guilt issues," Massachusetts said.

"What?" America asked.

"We decided to get it out of the way, and luckily she knows about others that are willing to help," Louisiana said.

The resurrected nation stepped out of the shack, and America's jaw dropped.

"You were unable to save her, correct?" Massachusetts asked, and America just nodded.

"I'm also glad that now we have another francophone with us," Louisiana said.

The nation smiled, eyes fixed on America.

"I'm so sorry about what happened," America said, a look of shame on his face.

"It's okay, America. You didn't know what would happen. I don't blame you," Madagascar said.


	100. Chapter 99

**Thanks to Pink Tourmaline, DemonRavenna, teabrows, pastaaddict, Inky-Paws, Eternal Nexus Warrior, topaz3 and two anons for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 99**

Vietnam's eye twitched in annoyance. She had asked Adamastor to take her to the place where she could sense the foreign nation, giving him a rough idea on where to go. What she _didn't_ realise earlier was that the nation wasn't just at some random location.

He was inside her house.

"I'll wait outside for you," Adamastor said, leaning against a nearby tree.

"Thank you," she said, closing the distance between her and her front door.

She was rather curious to see who was in her house, and she was seriously considering whether or not to murder this nation for not only coming into her country, but entering her personal home without invitation. If these weren't already troubled times, it would be enough of a cause to start another war.

Carefully opening the door, she listened intently. Gripping her paddle tightly, she cautiously walked inside the house.

She heard movement from the living room, and she moved closer. She waited intently, before bursting in, her paddle ready.

Standing there, another paddle in hand, was the intruder, who looked relieved when he saw that it was her. She, however, was a little annoyed.

"Cambodia!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I came to escape from Amodi," Cambodia said. "Laos has completely been taken over, and I couldn't get in touch with anyone. I didn't want to idly sit by if there's a chance that they might come to my place. I've seen the news reports… Uh, before communications went down, and I was worried that it might happen to me as well."

Vietnam sighed.

"I don't blame you for getting to safety," she said. "But how did you know that I was safe?"

"I managed to get in contact with a… well, a _contact_ in your military," Cambodia said nervously. "I know that your people and Thailand's were fortifying your countries against Amodi. And I went to the place I was closest to at that time."

"I see. But why did it have to be my _house_?! You know that I would have sensed you, no matter where you were in my country, right?"

"Um… I wanted to go somewhere that I knew I could probably find food, which you would most likely come to, and which I'm already familiar with."

With that nervous grin on his face, Vietnam felt her annoyance increasing. There was only one thing left to do, regardless of the fact that he wasn't an enemy.

He flinched when she brought the paddle down on his head.

…

Israel glanced at the ribbon around his hand in confusion. A while ago, the ribbon started indicating that White was in a completely different location. Specifically, a different _continent_.

He didn't know how she managed to jump continents, unless she was using a technique similar to Amodi's. But as far as he could remember, she had never claimed that she could use magic, although Black liked to dabble in their country's form of traditional medicine and superstitions.

Then again, there was a possibility that _other_ nations in that group could use magic.

He didn't like the thought that she was with other nations asides from him. Who knew the things that they would force into her mind? And who knew how many others were interested in her? Brazil he knew of and he knew that Brazil had been with her.

The nation that had stolen her away from him.

Other than getting her back, he wanted to punish Brazil from taking what was his. He couldn't forgive the South American for that crime. And he would make sure that _no_ _one_ interfered with him and White again.

But… If she had changed locations, then he would need to think of the reasons _why_. Did they change base? If so, then he would follow after her. However, if it was basically just a mission and she would be returning soon, then he would need to stay where he was or risk the chance that he got further away from her by attempting to follow.

What to do…?

He couldn't be sure of which possibility it was. He _could_ call one of the other members of Amodi, and if they acknowledged that they had attacked then it would confirm that they had changed their base of operations. If not, then, again, there were two possibilities: they _didn't_ change their base, since they wouldn't have a reason to, or they changed it for the sake of being cautious.

Again, there was no way to be sure…

He checked the clock, nodding his head in satisfaction. All he could do now was wait. If she hadn't returned to the previous location in twenty-four hours, he would assume that they had completely relocated.

He hated that he would be wasting all this time, but there was no other option.

…

White flinched as she heard a roar coming from the living room, where the others were attempting to fight against Canada's bear. It kept trying to charge in her direction, and the others tried to stop it every time.

There was also something else making her feel uncomfortable. Some sort of instinct…

She chased those thoughts away when she heard the lock click, and she hastily opened the door. Seeing stairs going down, she knew that she had found their goal.

It was probably why the bear was trying so hard to get to her.

Without looking back, she entered and shut the door behind her, locking herself in a world of black. With a deep breath, she carefully started to go down the stairs, hoping that she would find a light at the bottom.

…

"Okay," Madagascar said, "first things first: are there any particular nations that you want on your side?"

"I guess being practical would be good," America said. "England _would_ have been good… I hate to admit it, but he was a pretty decent fighter in the last World Wars."

"More than 'decent'," Pakistan muttered.

"Unfortunately, England doesn't want to come," Madagascar said. "He was properly tortured before he died, and it wasn't a pretty picture."

America flinched, before bowing his head.

"I was actually wondering about that," Thailand said, before he turned to Louisiana and Massachusetts. "We already know that they don't want to come back because of their injuries when they were dying. But what if it could be healed?"

"Impossible," Louisiana said. "We already tried with Jordan. The cells are dead, and with _that_ , the ingredients necessary for recovering. Even with magic, it can't be done."

Pakistan and Thailand looked over towards Jordan, who was ignoring the conversation as she continued to eat her dinner.

"What about France?" America asked.

Madagascar smiled.

"He doesn't have a problem," she said. "He and Austria were quickly killed. Their torture was more of a verbal torture than anything."

"Hungary should be happy," Thailand said.

Madagascar and Jordan shared a look, before they sighed.

"Hungary also died," Madagascar said.

"What?!" America, Thailand and Pakistan asked in unison.

"It happened a few days ago, when they went to rescue Greece," Madagascar said. "Syria had also been killed. And both of them are… in less than stellar conditions."

America's shoulders slumped.

"Damn," he said. "Both of them are good fighters. Hey! What about Germany and Prussia?"

Madagascar smirked.

"Considering they died of a single gunshot, they wouldn't mind coming back," she said. "Especially if given the opportunity to repay Amodi for what they did to them."

"Germany considered Italy to be his friend, right?" Thailand asked. "He must not have taken the betrayal very well."

"And then there's also the fact that they were the first ones to be attacked and see Amodi's true colours," Pakistan added. "I can imagine how they would react."

"Then what about the nations that _used_ to be close to the individual members?" America asked. "They'd probably be happy to join."

"Good idea," Pakistan said.

"America, when did you grow up?" Louisiana asked while giggling.

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" America asked.

"Back to the matter at hand," Massachusetts said. "Who could the Amodi nations have been close to?"

"Well, let's see…" America said, scrunching his face. "Canada was close to Cuba, I think."

"Cuba's out," Madagascar said. "I think we should mention that pretty much everyone killed by the South Americans are out. They wouldn't want to come back to their bodies with _those_ memories."

Jordan shuddered.

"I could only imagine what it must have felt like for other nations to _eat_ you," she said. "Especially if those nations were your former friends or neighbours."

The others looked a little sick.

"Okay then," America said. "That would probably be too cruel. So… who was killed by them?"

"Let's just say, the only ones in both American continents that haven't been killed by them would be you, Mexico (and I guess Confederacy), Canada, Brazil and Haiti," Madagascar said. "Haiti made sure to arrange for a successor, however, and committed suicide. That successor is now in Amodi's grasp, and they're taking her to Africa, where the Amodi nations there are basically babysitting the other Africans. Luckily, they're not in any danger."

"That reminds me," America said. "What about Black South Africa? Would he be willing to come?"

"He'd be suffering from constant headaches due to receiving a shot to the head, but he'd be willing. Especially since he knows about the danger White is in. Though he wasn't really complaining about what Amodi did to his country, especially his government…"

"I have to admit, while Amodi doesn't treat the nations well, the countries are actually faring nicely," Jordan said. "The main problem is that it has the tendency to make the nation feel inferior because other nations are running their countries better than them. And they move _quick_."

"Alright, so we have someone else willing to come," Thailand said, trying to get things on track. "What about the Koreas?"

"You know them better," Pakistan pointed out. "What do _you_ think?"

Thailand was quiet for a moment, before turning to Madagascar.

"What happened to Hong Kong and Macau?" he asked.

"They're still alive, though acting as Amodi prisoners," Madagascar said. "Their link to China means that they could be tortured to transfer the pain to _him_ , though. Then again, Macau is being used to keep Portugal in line, so it's unlikely that they would hurt him."

"Okay. And what about Italy and Romano?"

"For Italy, definitely Germany," America said. "But we already discussed that. And Romano was close to Spain, or at least Spain thought so. But given France's description of the state of Spain's corpse, I don't think he'd want to come."

"How did _France_ know?" Pakistan asked.

"Before we knew for a fact, we did some investigating," America said. "France went to check on Spain, and what he saw was _not_ pleasant."

"Okay then," Thailand said. "They're making this difficult. What about Poland?"

"Baltics," Jordan said. "But they're not willing to come either. Considering two of them were killed by Belarus… And they also had their hearts ripped out. I don't think they'd want to come."

"Got it. Then what about Finland? The way Norway was when he first joined us…"

"Iceland's still alive, so he's out," Madagascar said. "He's also safe, since the nations of Amodi don't want to inherit his volcanoes. Especially after what happened in Hawaii."

"Wait, _what_ happened in Hawaii?" America asked worriedly.

"It happened after the islands became Amodi territory," Madagascar said. "The volcano goddess – who is kind of like General Winter or Adamastor, now that I think about it – decided that she wouldn't allow her lands to be used for Amodi. She basically made sure that no one could use the islands again, at least not for a few decades. Maybe a century or two. The good news was that she managed to get Mexico and Confederacy in the blast, and they're still inactive and recovering from their wounds."

America smirked.

"As long as they got what they deserved," America said. "Where is she now?"

"She's somewhere in your country, trying to prevent Amodi from purposely causing a supervolcano to erupt," Madagascar said.

America's eyes widened, and so did Louisiana's and Massachusetts's.

"You're not talking about the one I _think_ you're talking about, are you?" Massachusetts asked.

Jordan and Madagascar exchanged a look before nodding their heads.

"Oh crap," the three Americans said.

…

Pele walked up to the men planting the bombs, and by the time they realised she was there, it was already too late. She replaced the air surrounding them with volcanic ash, and before long they were down for the count.

It was a great start, but she still had much to do. She turned her attention to the bombs, thankful that they hadn't been activated yet. She needed to find a good place to get rid of them…

And then she also had to stop the _other_ humans that were trying to plant more bombs. It was going to be a _long_ day.

…

Cyprus rushed into the building, Norway standing just outside, waiting for him. He knew that there was no way for Canada to be there yet. But still, he couldn't help but worry.

Canada had every intention to target Cyprus's younger brother, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Turkey and Cyprus had sent him to a safe location near the beginning of the war, since they didn't want him involved. But it looked as though there was no other choice but to involve him, at least by keeping him with them. The alternative was to let him remain where he was, where Canada would easily be able to get to him.

And as he waited, Norway thought of something else. The micronations of Amodi had been going around, killing any other micronations, as well as regions, or at least others that were small enough. So, why was TRNC still alive?

No one in Amodi could have anticipated that they would want to keep TRNC alive for the purpose of torturing Cyprus (and possibly Turkey). It would have been too risky. But… why didn't they kill him sooner? Nothing was stopping them.

He would need to enquire about that later. And… Now that he thought about it, how _did_ Canada even know where to find TRNC?

He shook his head of those thoughts when he saw Cyprus and TRNC leaving the building, Cyprus looking as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. TRNC was clinging to him, a scared look on his face. Did Cyprus tell him about what Canada had intended to do?

"Alright, looks like we can go," Norway said.

"Yeah," Cyprus sighed. "Before Canada _does_ show up."

…

Cambodia was rubbing his head as he looked around at the camp. He had been brought to where the other nations were, and he was rather happy that he was safe. He was still a little confused as to _how_ they had managed to arrive at their location, though Vietnam had said that she would explain everything later.

In the meantime, Vietnam told him that he should make himself useful, and he did so by helping out with the village they're apparently trying to build. He wondered how long that would take.

…

Myanmar smiled in relief. Already, the border was coming into view. Soon enough, he would be in China, where he and the others could hopefully join the nations in their fight against Amodi.

Nepal was still asleep, but the others were awake, and they seemed to realise that they were close to salvation as well. They couldn't wait for it.

They were stopped at the border, however, and they were worried for a moment that they would be prevented from entering. As it turned out, the soldiers were merely checking to make sure that they didn't carry any weapons, fearing that they might have been Amodi soldiers. They also noticed the state Nepal was in, and even directed them to the nearest hospital.

It had seemed that the Chinese government had opened its borders for refugees. But there weren't just refugees fleeing _to_ China, but _from_ the country as well.

Given that no one knew what the current state of affairs was, it was understandable that everyone wanted to avoid staying in what could possibly be a dangerous area.

However, not too long after they left, there was an explosion on the road behind them that made Myanmar temporarily lose control of the car. He managed to force the car to a stop before he could collide with something, and the nations turned back to see what had happened.

The border gate had been utterly destroyed in an explosion. Myanmar felt a little sick, since it was partly his border that had been attacked. And he knew that China would most likely feel that as well.

He wondered, if China could feel the pain of his border being attacked, whether he would be able to feel their presence now. Or, perhaps, he would think that _they_ were the ones that attacked. That was _not_ a good way to start.

There was also another, more frightening possibility. It couldn't be that Amodi knew where they were, could it?

Myanmar jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder, and he turned to see Bangladesh looking at him in concern.

"Do you want me to take over driving?" he asked.

Myanmar shakily nodded his head.

"Y-yeah," he said. "I think that would be best."

…

As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, White searched for the light switch and turned it on. Against the opposite wall, she could see a young girl that was possibly Michoacán. She couldn't be sure, since she had never met the girl before, but judging by her resemblance to Mexico, she was probably the one they had come to save.

The girl watched her, and she tried to smile reassuringly. Just as she took the first step towards her, there was another roar and a large thud that seemed to shake the very foundations of the building.

Given their location, that was _not_ a good thing.

 **You'll notice that I take as many cheap shots to the South African government as possible. Why? Well, considering the fact that the president has 783 charges of corruption against him… If you want an idea of how bad it is, go look up Zapiro cartoons. The official website also gives an explanation for the cartoons. And Americans have another place where they could laugh at Trump as well.**


	101. Chapter 100

**Thanks to teabrows, Inky-Paws and pastaaddict for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 100**

White walked up to the bound girl, keeping an ear out for anything happening above. She knelt down besides the captive.

"Are you Michoacán?" White asked.

The girl nodded, a small smile gracing her face.

"Let's get you out of here," White said, turning to the shackles.

"I think the keys are over there," Michoacán said, her voice raspy.

White turned her head to where Michoacán indicated, and indeed could see a set of keys. She walked over and grabbed them.

"Why did he leave them here?" White asked.

"To taunt me," Michoacán said. "Or he didn't care much anymore. He seemed more focused on avenging his boyfriend."

White nodded her head, her mind drifting to Israel. When he saw that Brazil was with her, he had looked as though he would not only kill him. He would _punish_ him. It was one of the things that convinced her that Israel was an enemy. And soon enough, that he was part of Amodi. She didn't know if he really _loved_ her, but if it was something common with the nations of Amodi…

She realised that it _was_. She had heard the descriptions from the others about when Belarus, Switzerland and South Korea attacked their former base. Part of it was to capture certain nations, like Black, but another part was to rescue North Korea, Belarus's lover. And Belarus was the one that engaged them in battle while the others used stealth to get the ones they wanted.

She wondered if _all_ the nations of Amodi would be like that, and if so… What lengths would they go to for the ones they loved?

"What's on your mind?" Michoacán asked, snapping White from her thoughts.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just… Do you have any idea what lengths the nations of Amodi would go to for the ones they love?"

Michoacán bowed her head as White approached, searching for the correct keys to free her.

"I have an idea," Michoacán said. "After America caused the death of Molossia, who was in a relationship with Liechtenstein, she responded by causing the meltdown of a nuclear reactor in America."

White widened her eyes and glanced towards the state.

"Do you think all of them are capable of that?" she asked.

"I had a brief glimpse of Hungary's corpse when they first brought me to Canada," Michoacán said. "And considering the fact that some of the other members of Amodi were feeling _sorry_ for me…"

White winced, understanding what Michoacán was saying. They would go to _great_ lengths for the ones they loved. But now she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like for _unrequited_ love, like with Israel. She didn't even know if it was truly love or obsession, but it was entirely possible that Brazil would be in a _lot_ of trouble because of the situation.

As long as they didn't end up in a situation where he would end up in direct conflict with Israel, he should be fine.

She couldn't help but think back of the dream she had a few days ago, courtesy of Romania. Where Israel was the one that held onto her while Brazil was being executed. Not murdered. _Executed_. It was completely possible that such a thing would come to pass, and it would all fall into Amodi's plot.

Thinking about the orders they'd been given…

They wanted Israel and her to work on nuclear weapons together. And if Israel was already a willing member – if he _was_ willing – then they would need something for her to become willing as well. Those ribbons… Did they include some sort of brainwashing?

White managed to unlock Michoacán's cuffs, and the state tried to stand, before promptly falling over. White rolled her eyes, before she crouched down in front of Michoacán with her back to her.

"Come on," she said. "You're not used to walking anymore."

"Won't that be more difficult?" Michoacán asked. "I could just…"

"You want me to throw your arm around my shoulders and support your weight?" White guessed. "That won't work. If you can't use either of your legs, you'd only be dead weight. This way is better. I sometimes have to do some heavy lifting, so it's no problem."

Michoacán hesitated for a moment longer before wrapping her arms around White's neck. After securing her legs around White's waist, the nation stood, before her eyes widened.

"You're far too light already," she said. "We need to get you some food."

Michoacán gave a quite groan/whimper, and White proceeded to walk towards the exit, hoping that they wouldn't have any problems with Canada's bear.

But once they arrived on the main floor, their eyes widened with surprise, and Michoacán actually _did_ groan this time. To say that the environment resembled a bloodbath would be putting it mildly, and in the centre was a small white figure, while Russia, Turkey and Brazil were off to the side, looking tired.

"What happened?" White asked.

"We managed to get a good hit," Russia said, smiling while rubbing his shoulder.

White groaned.

"Canada is going to be so pissed," she said. "More than he already is, apparently."

"Then I guess we should leave," Russia said. "I'll call General Winter."

…

Canada shuddered. He had a bad feeling that something was happening that he wouldn't like. He narrowed his eyes, before turning his attention back in front of him. They had started the descent.

…

Norway groaned in exhaustion as he returned them to their growing village, and Cyprus went off with his younger brother, going to help Lebanon and Greece. Greece avoided everyone's eyes, but he was willingly helping them. Since he was used to manual labour (due to digging up his mother's ruins), it would have been a waste to have him stay on the side lines.

Norway toyed with the diamond around his neck, feeling grateful to White for the boost in magic. Since it was a gift from the nation it originated from, the latent magic in the stone intensified.

However, it still didn't change the fact that he was far weaker than he used to be, and that, without the link to his lands, the magic he used drained him of his vitality. Small spells were no problem, but larger spells, like teleportation, could prove to be his undoing if he used it too frequently.

Shaking his head, he decided to rest and check on Åland. He made his way to China's house, where they had left the comatose Nordic. Anyone with medical knowledge frequently went to check up on him.

However, there was something seriously amiss. Norway's eyes widened when he realised that Åland wasn't breathing. They didn't have any machines or anything with them, but it wasn't really necessary for nations. Nations didn't go into the same types of comas as humans, and so having life support would be useless.

But that still didn't change the fact that Åland wasn't breathing.

Norway's hands started to glow as he made his way closer, placing his hands on Åland's chest. The Norwegian started to panic when he realised that there wasn't a heartbeat either. He started combining magic and CPR in a desperate attempt to stop what he suspected was happening.

They had given Åland a charm the previous night in order to protect him from Romania, so it couldn't be _that_.

…

"This is quite a list," Massachusetts said, examining the piece of paper in front of him.

As the list had grown of possible nations that could be resurrected and join the fight against Amodi, Massachusetts had grabbed a piece of paper to take note. He would be the one to summon their corpses, and unless he took note, he wouldn't be able to remember everyone.

"That's good, isn't it?" Thailand asked.

"But the list of nations killed is a _lot_ longer," Jordan sighed. "And so is the list of nations that don't want to return to their broken bodies."

"All because of Amodi," Pakistan said. "So, when are they joining us?"

"It would take a while to recover the magical power," Massachusetts said. "A few days, at least."

"And using too much energy for voodoo could result in some bad juju," Louisiana said.

"So, we can wait," America said. "Unless Amodi is planning something?"

All eyes were on Madagascar, and she shrugged.

"The biggest thing they're worried about is Yellowstone," she said. "If _that_ fails, then they'll make a new plan. Otherwise… Business as usual for them."

"That's still concerning," America said. "Then again, this is war. So, nothing particularly bad?"

"Even if there _was_ something they're up to," Jordan said, "we aren't in any position to do anything."

America was quiet for a moment.

"Should we try getting in touch with the others?" he asked.

" _That_ we can do," Pakistan said. "And we can also report on everything that we've been up to."

"Hopefully they wouldn't be too horrified or anything," Madagascar said. "Then again, if England told Norway about it, then there's a chance that they already know."

America's face became sad.

"Is there… is there a chance that I could… speak to England?" he asked.

…

As soon as they arrived at their new home, Michoacán groaned, not having been out in the light for quite some time. She was also feeling a little nauseous after the trip.

White gave a small smile, before going towards the regions. They had stopped their work, watching as the nation approached. Quebec walked closer, a knowing look in his eyes.

"I assume that you would be the best to help her recover," White said. "She's having difficulty walking."

Quebec nodded, starting to help Michoacán get off from White's back. When they saw that he was having difficulty, the other regions approached, and White helped as well.

When it was done White smiled, before wandering off. She had a lot of thinking to do.

…

Israel glanced at his hand once again, watching the ribbons. It would seem that it _was_ just a brief trip, for White was once again where she had previously been.

He smirked, knowing exactly where she was. Nothing was stopping him from going to her location and taking her back, regardless of who could possibly stand in his way.

He also knew that Italy wanted to punish Brazil for escaping, and he himself wanted to punish Brazil for taking White away from him. Should he let Italy have Brazil, or should he personally punish him?

…

San Marino frowned, putting the headset away. He had been speaking with human troops, and he didn't like what he heard. He also didn't like the fact that he would have to report it to Italy. Nevertheless, his brother would want to know about this.

He made his way to their office, and he hesitated for a moment before he knocked. He opened the door, only to find that neither Italy nor Poland were there. He cocked his head to the side, before he made his way to their bedroom.

He hesitated again, wondering if he should knock. He swallowed, before knocking, and he didn't wait before opening the door.

"…JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOCKED THIS TIME DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN JUST ENTER!"

San Marino slammed the door shut, his face red. He did _not_ want to see that.

…

Norway made his way to where Greenland and Faroe were working on the charms, his face its usual stoic mask. He knew that what he was going to tell them would be painful, and he didn't want to show weakness. He didn't want them to be too worried.

And yet, when they turned to him their smiles fell. It was as though they could see behind his mask.

"What's wrong?" Faroe asked.

Norway averted his eyes, and the two stood up.

"It's Åland," Norway said. "He… he's dead."

The two gasped, Greenland's hands making their way to her mouth.

"But… He was fine this morning," Faroe said. "He was still out, but… He can't…"

"It couldn't be that Romania got to him, could it?" Greenland asked.

"Not by dreams," Norway said. "It's possible that Romania and Finland did something to Åland's land."

"But, Åland has a close connection to Finland," Faroe said. "I mean… Hurting Åland's land would hurt Finland too."

"They don't care about that, remember?" Norway said. "They're unaffected if their lands are affected. But… there's a possibility that Åland had succumbed to whatever Antarctica had done to him."

The other two flinched, knowing that there was nothing that they could do. They should have paid closer attention.

…

Antarctica was on his way back to Russia, a smirk on his face. He knew that Russia had a tendency to weaponize winter, but he wondered how much the Russian people could truly take. Either way, he was meant to sabotage the Russian infrastructure, by any means necessary.

…

"So, what is it that you interrupted us for?" Italy asked, his face red and looking more than annoyed.

Poland was wearing a similar expression, while San Marino's was mostly just red.

"I received news from the troops at Yellowstone," San Marino said. "It seems that there's a woman interfering with them."

"A woman?" Italy repeated. "A nation? Or something else?"

"I'm guessing 'something else'. They report that she's supernaturally strong and can somehow control fire. She also disappears with the bombs."

"Who, or _what_ , could it be?" Poland mused. "Either way, tell the troops to take a photo of this woman and send the photo to us, and then send it to Mexico. There's a possibility that _she_ might recognise her."

"There's also the possibility that Mexico had med her before," Italy said. "If it's the same being from Hawaii…"

"I understand," San Marino said. "I'll get to work right away."

As San Marino left, the other two remained in silence for a while. The silence was broken by Italy sighing, and Poland turned to him.

"We need to get new locks for this place," Poland said.

"Why is it that only _some_ of the doors have locks?" Italy groaned. "And we have to use them for prisoners. I have to have a serious word with Vatican. Ask him why he didn't think to properly equip his house."

"Good idea."

…

"So, it looks like one of the creatures that attacked me is a Chupacabra," Romania said. "I'm still trying to figure out what the others are."

"At least you made progress," Finland said. "More coffee?"

"Da, I would appreciate it."

…

Netherlands approached White, who was sitting near the fields that they had cultivated in order to grow food, hoping that they _would_ be staying there long enough for the crops to reach harvest. She looked as though she was lost in thought, and Netherlands couldn't help but be worried for his former colony.

"What's bothering you?" Netherlands asked.

White glanced towards him, apparently not surprised by his sudden presence. He took it as a good sign that she wasn't _too_ distracted by whatever was on her mind. If she hadn't been paying attention during a war…

"When we were at Canada's house, a few thoughts crossed my mind," White said. "First, what lengths the nations of Amodi would go through for the one they love."

Netherlands looked thoughtful for a moment, thinking about what _he_ would be willing to do for Portugal.

"Israel is supposedly in love with me," White said. "And before we left… He looked completely unhinged. I don't know if it's actual love, or obsession, but… Hearing about what some of the Amodi nations did…"

"You're worried about what Israel might do," Netherlands said.

"Exactly. I'm worried about what he might do to everyone here. If he could find us…"

"As long as he doesn't find us, it should be alright. After all, you don't know if he _could_ find us."

"But we also don't know that they _couldn't_ find us. We don't know all of the things they're capable of. How did they find the previous bases?"

Netherlands grumbled, but decided to think about it.

"The first time, it would be easy to explain," he said. "They had agents among us."

"And the second time?"

Netherlands paused, not entirely sure.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Then who's to say that they couldn't find us here?" White asked.

Netherlands sighed.

"Norway said that this place is a blind spot," he said. "I'm sure that it would be alright."

"And if it's not?"

Netherlands hugged her, surprising the younger nation.

"I will protect you," he whispered quietly. "And I'm sure that Brazil would protect you as well."

"That's what I'm worried about," White said. "I don't want anyone to be in danger because of me. And… there's something else I'm worried about."

"Hmm?"

White hesitated for a moment.

"One of the things I know for sure is that Italy wanted us to work on the nuclear arms project together," White said. "Something that I didn't _want_ to do, but which I had no choice but to follow orders. Israel pretended as though he was being forced into it as well. But for the most part, _he_ handled those affairs."

"And you're worried about what's happening?" Netherlands asked.

White was silent, biting her lip.

"Given their strategies and everything," White said, " _why_ did they order us to build more nukes? If it was for energy, I would understand, but… They specifically want weapons. And as far as I know, they hadn't _used_ any of them yet. So then… _Why_ did they order the creation of more nuclear weapons?"

…

Canada growled in frustration. He had reached the place that Egypt had identified as the hiding place of TRNC, before Egypt had died, of course. It was to remain an ace, in case they wanted to mess with Turkey and his friends.

And now that he _wanted_ to mess with them… TRNC was _gone_.

Canada pulled out his phone, thinking of something else to do. Something that would be just as cruel.

"Italy? I think it's time we put the Washroom to good use…"

 **Sorry, didn't proofread. A little pressed for time.**


	102. Chapter 101

**Thanks to Eternal Nexus Warrior, Terra, pastaaddict and Inky-Paws for reviewing. Wow! 900 reviews! Thank you!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 101**

Antarctica paused, feeling the vibration in his pocket. He sighed, removing the infernal device responsible. Glancing at the screen, he answered the phone.

"What is it, Italy?" he asked.

"Change of plans," Italy said. "Do you think you could come over to the base? Canada has a… project that's going to require some extra security."

Antarctica raised his eyebrow at that.

"And what kind of project is that, and why would he need security?" the continent asked.

"Well, seeing as the last time he tried it, his subject was taken by the enemy," Italy said casually. "We don't want that to happen again."

Antarctica was silent for a moment.

"Very well," he said. "Canada is a cold country, correct?"

"That's right," Italy said. "How long will it take you to return?"

"I'm not _that_ far away. I should be there before too long."

"Alright then."

The two hung up, and Antarctica turned around, his destination the same as his point of departure. He moved slightly faster than before, wondering exactly what the project was and what it would entail. And he wondered if security was really _that_ important.

…

"So, any ideas for Canada's plan?" Italy asked.

Poland turned thoughtful for a moment, before he smirked.

"What about Australia and New Zealand?" he asked. "They could prove useful."

Italy crossed his arms, prompting Poland to continue.

"They might not be nations anymore," Poland said, "but they're still stronger than regular humans. And since Norway receives news about what we're doing from beyond the grave, he would know what we're doing to them. And he would know that they're in the same position as him. But that's only if they manage to interact. Australia and New Zealand could still be used as terrorists in their countries, joining our people."

"And the fact that they have no other purpose means that we have to do _something_ with them," Italy said, nodding his head. "What about Hutt River and Wy?"

"We'll ask them if they have any problems with the arrangement. We also might want to ask Wales or Romania to help out. We can't let our enemies reach any of our bases with magic again."

"I wonder if they would be able. Wales is looking after the children, and Romania's been busy with his own attacks."

"Hm. I see your point. We'll ask them if it's possible. It's a shame that Egypt is dead. We lost a huge asset."

"Indeed. But Canada is intent on avenging him, which could prove either useful or problematic, depending on what he wants to do."

"You're worried that his ideas of vengeance could interfere with our work?"

Italy was silent for a moment.

"It depends on what he wants to do with those he takes to the Washroom," Italy said. "We'll ask him about it when he arrives. After all, he knows the Washroom's capabilities better than anyone else."

Poland nodded his head, before he grinned.

"To be honest, I'm pretty curious about what he's planning," Poland said. "The last attempt was a bit of a failure, but I think this time he has a good idea on what to do."

Italy chuckled.

"Only one way to find out, I suppose," he said. "And if this proves to be useful for us, then all the better, isn't it?"

…

Wales made his way to the living room with a tray of snacks. All of the children were now at his house, and he needed to keep them occupied.

Luckily, they seemed unfamiliar with Disney movies, and so he kept them occupied with those. It was fortunate that England seemed to have collected them.

He placed the tray on the table in the centre, and immediately many tiny hands grabbed at the snacks. Wales smiled as he saw the children reacting positively to everything he did. It made him feel that his efforts were appreciated. It was a lot better than England (and even some of the colonies) acting as though it was expected.

"Thank you, Wales," Baltia said, smiling shyly.

Wales smiled in return, glad that he was in charge of taking care of the children. They were still so cute and innocent, and they trusted him with all their hearts.

He was startled out of his reverie when his phone started to ring. The children all looked around, not familiar with that sound yet.

"Excuse me," Wales said, walking out of the room and pulling his phone out of his pocket. He answered once he was a fair distance away. "How can I help you?"

"Canada's thinking of brainwashing a few of our prisoners," Italy said. "And the enemy has already displayed that they're comfortable using magic to get to and from our bases. I was wondering if you could perhaps do something about that."

"What do you mean?"

"A barrier or something. We can't allow our enemies to go anywhere near our bases. They already know that killing us would allow our prisoners to escape. And we can't afford for anyone else to die."

Wales sighed, massaging his temples.

"What about Romania?" he asked. "Couldn't you ask him to do it?"

"I tried calling him, but Finland was the one who answered. Apparently, his assignment is placing a lot of stress on him, and Finland doesn't want his lover to overwork himself. There's also the possibility of Romania snapping, and that's _never_ a good thing."

Wales bit his lip.

"It's going to have to wait," he said. "I can't leave the children alone, especially when I consider how far away the other bases are. It's too dangerous."

"And unfortunately, you're the only one suitable for childcare," Italy said. "Do you think you could start with your own house? Prevent strangers from entering, or anyone from leaving?"

"It's possible. I know a spell that creates a barrier that requires the owner's express permission to enter. I can modify it to include exiting. And then I'll wait until they're all asleep before I leave for the other bases."

"That sounds acceptable. Do you think that you could make sure they stay asleep? Possibly with a spell or… pills?"

"…I am not drugging the children. I'll see what I can do."

"Alright then. You still have some time, though. I also don't think they're going to come by immediately. You should focus on the children until you have the opportunity."

"I understand."

Wales hung up the phone, running his hand through his hair. He didn't know if he condoned brainwashing, but he knew that they couldn't afford for anything to go wrong. Ensuring that their bases were magically protected would probably be the best, regardless of what went wrong. He knew how painful it was for everyone whenever someone died. He, along with the others, wanted to prevent that as much as possible.

…

Netherlands and White were on their way back to the main camp, making their way to where Russia was resting. The larger nation was a little exhausted after having fought against a bear, especially when he still wasn't completely healed.

White paused, before she grabbed China, telling him to come as well. Confused, China joined the others, and Russia cocked his head to the side.

"You look bothered," Russia said.

"I did a bit of thinking, and there's a chance there's serious trouble," White said.

"What do you mean?" China asked.

"Well, when I was still under Amodi's control, they ordered me to reopen my nuclear weapons program, along with Israel. While they haven't been working on it in my country, some of my scientists still went over to Israel… with the data from before."

"Nuclear program?" China repeated. "But… why would they…?"

"Russia, does Poland or Belarus know anything about it?" White interrupted, looking pointedly at Russia.

Russia seemed to pale.

"Da, they do," Russia said. "And so does Romania. And… Those bullets of theirs are nuclear, da? What if that's not the only thing they have that's nuclear?"

"Because they were ordering something larger," White said. "And unfortunately, I no longer have access to any of the information. But I wonder… what do they want with those weapons? Especially since it's not part of their tactics."

"It's alarming," China said. "If only we have a way to spy on them."

"Do you think Norway would be able to find out what's going on?" Netherlands asked.

"We should try," White said. "I don't feel safe with the knowledge that they're planning to do something with those nuclear weapons."

"How do you even know that they're planning to do something with them?" Russia asked.

"Why else would they ask for them?"

…

Portugal held up his hand, hesitating before he knocked on the door. He heard a shuffle from inside, before Romano came out, a scowl on his face that looked so familiar that Portugal couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?" Romano snapped, looking annoyed, and probably not appreciating the chuckle.

"The rest of us have been talking," Portugal said. "You need more sources of entertainment."

"And why's that?"

"For us. That's the only way you're going to keep us from causing trouble. Because all of us are starting to get bored."

"You realise that you're _prisoners_ , right?"

Portugal shrugged, leaning against the doorframe.

"I take it that there's some problems in our countries, right?" Portugal asked.

Romano pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing.

"I'd say that it's because the nations aren't happy," Portugal continued, examining his nails. "If you can keep us satisfied…"

"Where is this suddenly coming from?" Romano interrupted.

"We need a distraction. This is a war, after all. And we're locked out of the loop, even though we're right in the middle of everything. And we can't even tell what's going on through our link to our countries. Like I said, unless you want us to start causing trouble…"

"What makes you think that we're going to allow that?"

This time, Portugal actually smiled.

"Because the whole reason why you brought the others is because you wanted to keep me in line," Portugal said. "And you want me for some reason that I can't quite fathom, but you still want me. Hurting the others when I've been behaving myself… That would be counterproductive. And you won't hurt _me_ to get _them_ to cooperate, because you don't want to hurt me. You need me."

Romano's eyes narrowed further, but there was a bit of a smirk.

"You seem to have found a bit of a loophole," he said. "But do you really think that's enough?"

"Someone might have found a video camera," Portugal said. "Unless you want it to find its way into your and India's room…"

Romano's smirk fell.

"Are you blackmailing me?" Romano demanded.

"I'm just saying, since we're lacking entertainment, we may start making our own," Portugal said. "We may not be able to post anything to the internet, but… that doesn't mean that _we_ can't enjoy it."

"You dirty bastard," Romano said. He sighed. "I'll see what I can do. But you know…" This time, he smirked again. "Trying to exploit a loophole, blackmail… All to manipulate us… You show obvious signs that you belong among our ranks."

Portugal's smile dropped, and Romano closed the door. Portugal leaned against the wall, smacking his forehead. He hated that Romano saw that he was similar to _them_ , but it had to be done. He wanted to make sure that the others weren't feeling down.

He wanted to keep their spirits up, but he could have gone without the comparison.

Though, he wasn't lying about the video camera.

…

"Maybe we should prepare a séance or something," Louisiana suggested, glancing over towards America.

"Well, England _did_ raise him," Massachusetts said. "And I'm not sure that they completely patched up their relationship before England died."

"I think he's bothered by the fact that he wouldn't be able to see England again. And I think he feels guilty that he hadn't been able to save England. That he hadn't been able to save a lot of nations, actually."

"And unfortunately, he wouldn't be honest with us about the reasons. Or himself, for that matter."

The two states saw Thailand making his way to America, a rolled-up piece of paper in his hand. They knew that it was the letter that he had written for their allies, and he was probably asking for America's eagle in order to deliver it.

"At least we're getting in touch with the other nations," Louisiana said. "Do you think that they'd have any news from their end?"

"If they do, I hope it's good," Massachusetts sighed.

…

Poland smirked as he entered the room. Australia and New Zealand scrambled to their feet, wary of one of the Amodi leaders being in their room.

"Well, the good news is, you're going to be leaving soon," Poland said.

"What?" Australia asked. "Why?"

"That's the bad news, isn't it?" New Zealand said.

"Good guess," Poland said. "You'll be going to what is known as the Washroom, where your minds and personality would be wiped and replaced."

The two widened their eyes, and someone else entered the room. The two Oceanic nations grew paler when they saw Canada, who had a calm, but cold look on his face.

"That's right," Canada said. "And I'm the one who's going to be responsible. Say goodbye to everything you are."

"Y-you can't do this," Australia said.

"Oh, you'll find that we _can_ ," Poland said. "The only reason why you're still alive is because Wy and Hutt River showed you mercy. And because Wales's grudge wasn't directed at _you_. But Wales doesn't really care about what we're doing to you, and Wy and Hutt River had already stated that we could do whatever we want. Since you're just using up a room with no other purpose anyway."

"Why are you even telling us all of this?" New Zealand asked.

"Well, let's see," Canada said. "Because your faces right now are really amusing. And because you won't remember a single thing by the end of the week. Nothing. You will first become blank slates, and then we'll rewrite your whole lives. And you will be mercenaries for Amodi."

"Never!" Australia said, charging at Canada.

Canada easily caught his wrist and twisted it, grinning at the snapping sound, before he threw Australia back to New Zealand, causing both former nations to tumble to the ground.

"You're not nations anymore," Canada said. "You don't have the strength to back up any foolish attempts. But please, continue to try."

A third person entered the room, but neither of the prisoners recognised him. Poland turned to Antarctica with a smile.

"I'm sure you can handle them," Poland said, before he gave an orb to both of his allies.

"It shouldn't be too hard," Canada said. "And I'm assuming that more will be joining soon?"

"You can count on it."

…

Somalia was going over a list of names, biting his lip. Eritrea approached his ally, cocking his eyebrow.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"Italy asked me to choose nations to take to the Washroom," Somalia said.

Eritrea gave a sharp whistle, a worried look on his face. Somalia knew that Eritrea didn't really like the idea of the Washroom. There were _other_ ways to manipulate someone, after all. Of course, Eritrea was more inclined to physical torture and couldn't really see the merits of mental torture.

"Anyone in mind yet?" Eritrea asked.

"Italy asked for anyone that could make a good mercenary," Somalia said.

"Cameroon's a good choice."

Somalia nodded, making a note.

"Are they going up against our enemies?" Eritrea asked.

"I assume so," Somalia said distractedly.

"Then put Namibia on the list as well."

Somalia looked up, and Eritrea smirked.

"South Africa is among our enemies, right?" he asked. "I may not particularly _enjoy_ mental or psychological torture, but I can still use that."

Somalia grinned, before he added the name to the list.

"It's a shame that Lesotho and Swaziland are physically too young to pass for mercenaries," Somalia said. "And it's a shame that Mozambique and Angola are absent."

"Should we add Botswana and Zimbabwe?" Eritrea asked.

"I'm not sure. I've examined the South African political situation to get an idea on how things might have gone between Black and White. It seemed that White preferred Namibia, while Black preferred Zimbabwe, to an extent. But Zimbabwe's not physically strong enough. He wouldn't be able to pass for a mercenary. And I don't think Botswana had too strong a relationship with either one. The effect wouldn't be strong enough."

Eritrea just shrugged.

"Should still be interesting to see," he said. "Côte d'Ivoire is out, I assume."

Somalia snorted.

"He used to be tortured by _Romania_ ," he said. "Even I have to say I feel sorry for the guy."

"Alright. What about Kenya or Nigeria?"

"Definite possibilities," Somalia said, noting down those names. "Well, I think I have enough for now. I should probably notify Italy."

"And who's going to collect them?"

"That's Italy's problem to worry about."

…

China frowned, looking towards the west of his country. He could detect the presence of four other nations, coming at quite a speed, as though they were travelling via vehicle. And he didn't know whether or not these nations were from Amodi or not.

He had also felt a twinge of discomfort around his borders. Specifically, the borders he shared with Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. He couldn't help but wonder why that would be. But he couldn't help but notice that the discomfort happened just before he became aware of the other nations in his lands.

The only problem was, he didn't know _who_ those nations were, and thus couldn't tell if they were friend or foe. They were close to the Myanmar border, but that border wasn't the only one that was attacked. So it was possible that they were fleeing. And if they were members of Amodi, then China couldn't simply leave them alone.

There was only one thing for him to do.

 **Just for the record, I don't ship USUK. But I acknowledge that they did have a strong bond once, and that there seemed to have been a few attempts in canon to patch things up. Basically, America's just missing his big brother.**

 **Namibia actually used to belong to South Africa, and a lot of Afrikaners seem to like Namibia as well. There are a few Namibians at my university, and Afrikaans is also spoken in Namibia. The South African Rand can even be used in Namibia. As for Zimbabwe… The ANC seems to have links with the Mugabes, and a lot of refugees come to South Africa. And Botswana is our quiet neighbour.**


	103. Chapter 102

**Thanks to CivilReader2, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Inky-Paws, pastaaddict and three anons for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 102**

"Alright," Bhutan said. "We finally get to eat!"

The group had stopped at a small town and went to the nearest diner. They hadn't had a chance to eat since they first left for China, but now that they had left the border behind they felt that they could take some time to relax.

"Please calm down," Nepal sighed, before grimacing in pain.

"I agree," Myanmar said. "We don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

"Yeah," Bhutan said, excitement fading slightly. "You're right."

A waitress approached them, and they each placed an order. Just when the waitress was about to leave…

"That won't be necessary," someone said. "They'll be leaving now."

The four nations were alarmed, at least until they saw that it was China. For a moment, they had feared that it was a member of Amodi. The waitress looked between them in confusion, not sure what to do.

"Can't we at least just eat something?" Bhutan asked.

"You can eat at camp," China said. "I have a few questions for you."

"Is it about the border?" Myanmar asked.

"…Partly."

The nations nodded, before they stood. They thanked the waitress for the effort and apologised for the trouble, before leaving.

The humans left at the restaurant, on the other hand, were left completely confused.

…

San Marino sighed, disconnecting the call as he stared at the names on the list. Somalia had given the names based on Italy's orders. And San Marino would have to give the names to Italy.

But… He didn't _want_ to. He was still a bit traumatised from the last time he walked in on them. It was still fresh in his mind.

He felt arms wrapping around him, and he smiled when he realised that Vatican was behind him. He twisted around, and Vatican pecked him on the lips.

"You seem depressed," Vatican said.

"Not really," San Marino said. "I just… I need to deliver these to Veneziano."

"…You're worried about walking in on them again, aren't you?"

"Si."

"Alright. What if _I_ take it?"

"Are you sure?"

"If it spares you from any more trauma, then I'll gladly do it."

San Marino smiled.

"Grazie," he said. "Okay, so, these are the names that Somalia sent. Veneziano wanted these names."

"Alright," Vatican said, taking the paper. "I'll pass on the message."

"Thanks again," San Marino said, squeezing Vatican's hand in gratitude and affection.

…

"H-how did you do that?" Myanmar asked, looking around.

China glanced towards Adamastor, who chuckled before disappearing. China had told the four to return to their vehicle, before Adamastor brought them and the car along. He had done that without warning them about what would happen.

"Well, at least we have another car with us," China said. "Though, it would have been better if it had been a better quality."

Myanmar narrowed his eyes.

"Hey!" he shouted in indignation. "It's better than anything _you_ produce."

China glanced towards the car, before he shrugged.

"Fair enough," he said.

"Anyway," Bangladesh said, "we were trying to get away from Amodi."

China nodded his head, before he glanced towards Nepal.

"Your country was attacked," China said. "Am I right?"

Nepal smiled shakily.

"How could you tell?" he asked, before wincing. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

"Exceedingly," China said. "You can come with me. I'll see if there's anything I can do to help. The rest of you, you can join the others. See if there's anything that you can do to help."

"What are you doing, anyway?" Bhutan asked, looking around.

"We're restoring this ancient village to become our new base of operations," China said. "Almost all of our allies are here. Another group is with America."

"I see," Myanmar said, smiling in relief. "That's good to know."

"Um, when are we eating?" Bhutan asked, clutching his stomach.

China glanced towards him and sighed.

"Turkey and Japan have already started on lunch," China said. "I would normally be helping, but I think it's more important to help Nepal."

"Thank you," Nepal said.

As China led Nepal away, the other three couldn't help but notice that China walked with a slight limp himself. Then again, it was war. It was to be expected.

…

Vatican made his way to the office, and the door was open. He could hear Italy and Poland discussing something, and he knocked on the door, alerting them of his presence and silencing them.

"Si?" Italy prompted, and Vatican entered.

"Carlino sent me to give this to you," Vatican said. "It's a list of names from Somalia."

"Ah yes," Italy said, taking the paper. "Grazie."

"Hey, Angelo," Poland said. "Do you think that _you_ could pass on any future messages from Carlino?"

Vatican's mouth twitched in amusement.

"I'll talk to him about it," he said, before he left.

…

"I hate to say that it was rather cool," Australia said.

New Zealand rolled his eyes, but he had to admit, the technology that Amodi possessed was amazing. But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.

By the sudden change in temperature, and the way that Canada carried himself, New Zealand could only assume that they were in the North American's land. And that didn't bode well.

Antarctica was pushing Australia along, and Canada was pushing New Zealand. The Oceanic nations were pushed into a room, which appeared to be divided in different sections. Canada pushed New Zealand into a chair and started strapping him in, but not without some struggling from New Zealand.

"What should I do with this one?" Antarctica asked.

"Pick a chair and strap him in," Canada said distractedly as he was securing New Zealand to his own chair. "I'll come by soon."

"What do you plan to do?" New Zealand demanded, struggling in his bonds.

"Like I said," Canada said. "You'll become a blank slate. Tabula rasa. And then we'll rewrite everything about you. Your history, your personality, your loyalties…"

"You can't do this!"

"And who's going to stop me?"

New Zealand bit his lip. Truth be told, he didn't know who could stop them. He didn't know who was left. He and Australia had been kept in the dark regarding the status of the war. They didn't know who remained. Who was still fighting.

They had already seen England being killed, and they knew how strong the former empire had been. If _he_ had fallen, how many others had fallen as well?

After securing his limbs, Canada brought a gag to his mouth. New Zealand tried to keep his mouth closed, and after a while of trying, Canada sighed.

"If you don't open your mouth, then I'm going to stop wasting my time, and you can bite off your tongue and swallow it, for all I care," Canada said. "It doesn't bother me if you do so, except it's going to be a huge hassle. Especially since you don't heal like a nation anymore."

New Zealand paused, before closing his eyes in defeat. He obediently opened his mouth, and the gag was inserted. He could feel Canada adjust it, ensuring that his tongue remained down and that the gag remained firmly in his mouth, clenched between his teeth.

New Zealand trembled as Canada continued with his arrangements. He had heard of what Canada wanted to do, and he couldn't help but wonder _how_ the other would go about it, but if it involved the possibility of biting and/or swallowing his tongue, then he could only assume that he didn't _want_ to know.

New Zealand jerked away when Canada placed something on his head, but he couldn't escape the other. It felt like a helmet, and it completely covered his eyes and ears. The contraption was strapped shut, and New Zealand was breathing deeply, unimaginable fear gripping his very being.

For a while, nothing happened, and he wondered if Canada had left. But then, bright lights started playing in his vision, and a ringing sound echoed in his ears. Even when he closed his eyes, he couldn't escape the lights.

For a while, he could only register the presence of the lights and ringing. And then he _screamed_. Pain assaulted his entire body. It felt as though he was being electrocuted by a strong current, and it disappeared before too long.

Antarctica watched as Canada worked on the two nations, before they suddenly started screaming. He turned to Canada with a bored expression.

"What's going on?" Antarctica asked.

"The screens on the helmets are displaying a pattern of strobing lights that affect their subconscious," Canada explained. "They're also hearing what can be described as white noise, though possibly, their ears are trying to block it out by drowning it out through ringing. That would fade in due time. They're also receiving frequent electric shocks. Can't risk them falling asleep. I'll come by later to connect them to IVs. They're more fragile than nations, so we'll need to make sure they're hydrated, at least."

Antarctica stared at the two, completely bored. Finally, he turned to Canada.

"What kind of security do you want?" he asked.

"First of all, we need to make sure that these two don't leave this room," Canada said. "Secondly, we need to make sure that no one else comes _in_. Only the two of us. There will also be a few other prisoners coming soon, so we can't afford for anyone to interfere."

Antarctica nodded his head.

"I see," he said. "Well, at least your land is cold."

"I'm glad you like it," Canada said. "I'm going out for a while. There's another prisoner at one of my other bases that I should probably retrieve."

"I understand."

…

Michoacán shuddered. She had a horrible feeling of foreboding.

"Maybe we should get you to a bath?" Catalonia suggested. "The water nearby isn't too cold, and I think it should do your body good."

"I agree," Quebec said quietly.

"Yeah," Michoacán said. "I think I'd like that."

With that decided, the female regions went off, while the males stayed behind. Though, Picardy had to stop Quebec when he tried to go along.

"Since you've recovered a little," Picardy said, "I think it's time we discuss the rules of propriety. Namely, you can't go along with the girls when they're going for a bath."

Quebec frowned in confusion.

"But… They always come with me when I need one," he said.

Herm sighed, shaking his head. Jethou narrowed his eyes.

"Please tell me that you're just too innocent and not too French," Jethou said.

"Hey!" Picardy said. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

The others, save Quebec, simply stared at him, and Picardy grumbled in annoyance.

"Like I said," he said, "we need to teach you a thing or two about propriety."

…

Russia looked up when he heard a screech from the sky. He cocked his head to the side, seeing an eagle coming closer, before he realised that it was America's eagle. He held out his arm, and the bird perched on the arm a moment later. Russia was just thankful that his coat was so thick.

"You must have come a long way," Russia said, stroking the bird's feathers while taking the letter it carried.

He opened the letter as the bird moved over to his shoulder, and he was pleased to see that their allies were doing well, even if it hadn't gone by very smoothly. And now, he also had confirmation of what Norway had explained earlier about their plans.

Now he just needed to ask China for some pen and paper.

…

Vilnius swallowed nervously, carefully approaching the nation. She had seen this nation with Russia a few times, and she knew that they were friends. And this nation also had this… aura, that made her feel as though she could approach her.

White noticed the younger female, and she turned around to face her. She had been busy washing her bakkie, but she couldn't ignore the little girl. Especially since this girl was always so shy. She didn't think she's even heard her speak.

Vilnius shrank back, and White knew that she would have to tread carefully.

"Hey there," White greeted. "Can I help you with something?"

Vilnius shook her head, before she shyly shuffled her feet. White narrowed her eyes in confusion before she smiled.

"Hey, do you want to help me out?" White asked.

Vilnius looked surprised for a moment before she nodded, smiling slightly. White fetched another rag, and the little girl started helping by cleaning the wheels.

White watched Vilnius for a while, before she started thinking of Lesotho and Swaziland. The two were young nations, and she would often show concern for them. Lesotho especially, seeing as she was his only neighbour. In fact, they weren't physically much older than Vilnius.

She wondered how they were doing. She hoped that Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique were looking after them – and that they were also keeping an eye on Zimbabwe. She seriously hoped that her neighbours weren't in any serious trouble.

That was when she remembered that Mozambique was being kept with the other Portuguese-speaking nations, and she hoped that she was doing alright as well. But according to Norway, those nations were probably among the safest prisoners. The same couldn't be said for any of the others.

Thinking about it made her feel more nervous. She hoped that they weren't in any trouble.

Vilnius was watching the nation, and in her eyes she could see the thing that attracted her in the first place: concern for other nations. White gave off an aura that seemed almost maternal, and Vilnius needed that. She only hoped that White didn't mind.

…

Cortez made his way to Norway, and the former nation quickly glanced towards him before returning to his work.

"I thought you would have gone to your master?" Norway asked casually.

Cortez made a sound that wasn't too different from the sound of a lizard, and Norway glanced around. He saw the male regions, but none of the females.

"Where _is_ your master?" Norway asked.

Cortez shook his head, and Norway tried to figure out where they could have gone to, before he realised something.

"Did they go somewhere that you didn't want to follow?" Norway asked.

Cortez nodded his head, before making himself comfortable on Norway's shoulder. The Norwegian merely shrugged before continuing with what he was doing.

…

"Do you really think that a distraction is going to be a good idea?" Belgium asked.

"It might help," Portugal said. "I don't want them to worry too much about this war. They have friends out there, and we're being kept in the dark. Aren't you worried about your former colonies? Or your brother?"

Belgium flinched, before she averted her eyes.

"I don't think my former colonies are concerned about me," she said. "And… I know that they won't harm Lars. For the same reason why they won't hurt you."

Portugal shuddered.

"That's not very reassuring, to be honest," he said. "It just makes me think that they have something in mind that's potentially even _worse_."

"What could be…" Belgium said, before she stopped herself. "No, I shouldn't ask. Because that question is something I don't want to know the answer to."

"Good call."

…

"At least America is doing well," China said.

They were eating lunch, and Russia had informed them of the letter he had received from America, and they were all relieved to hear that their allies had managed to find a place of safety, and that it was possible for their fallen comrades to return. Sure, hearing things like that from Norway was one thing, but hearing the news from their allies was something else entirely.

They had also gained a few new additions, and informing them of everything that transpired was one of the more important discussions they had. It was also rather lengthy.

"Are you really okay with bringing people back from the dead?" Cambodia asked, looking a little disturbed.

"We don't have much of a choice," Norway said. "Though it isn't ideal, it _is_ something that the nations of Amodi haven't tried yet. Then again, they only have Wales and Romania that could do this, and I don't think Wales would want to do something like that. Romania is a bit more unpredictable. But the fact that they _haven't_ done it, despite their own losses, tells me that they wouldn't."

"How can you be sure?" Singapore asked. "I mean, they simply could not have felt the need yet."

"Or they simply don't care enough about their fallen members," Lebanon suggested.

Norway shook his head.

"Molossia and Egypt are among the fallen nations," Norway said. "Both of them had romantic partners. Both of them have gone insane due to their loss. If they had the power to perform necromancy, then those two would have demanded for their lovers to return."

"You have a point," Faroe said. "Thinking of the way Canada was when we killed Egypt… _That_ was scary."

…

He stared at the people in sorrow. He knew that they had suffered, and since he had been disconnected from his counterpart, he knew that things must have been far worse than he could have imagined.

Ulimaroa was worried for Australia. He had no idea whether or not his partner was still alive. And if he _was_ alive, then something horrible had happened to him.

Australia represented the government and the people. But the land and animals – everything _dangerous_ in Australia – was Ulimaroa. Australia was the nation, but _he_ was the continent.

And something had happened to his nation. And Ulimaroa had no idea how he would go about finding out what had happened to him.

Well, he had _some_ idea. At the same time he had grown disconnected from Australia, he had felt his connection to two micronations grow. Those had always been Australia's problem, but Ulimaroa had grown aware of them, and he wanted answers.

He would be able to track them, and he intended to do so. He intended to learn the truth about Australia. And he had waited long enough.

 **Eternal Nexus Warrior was the one who suggested that Vilnius think of White as a maternal figure. And White had actually demonstrated it in her first chapter, when she spoke out to protect Lesotho (Chapter 4).**

 **I received a few reviews regarding Australia's status as a continent, and the answer is: he isn't. He's the** _ **nation**_ **. There's someone else for the 'continent', but the two are fairly close. I tried finding an ancient name for Australia, or an aboriginal name, but couldn't find any. Then, on Wikipedia's article for the name of Australia, I saw a paragraph stating that Ulimaroa was a name mistakenly given to the land by a Swedish geographer and cartographer, based on the Maori word Olhemaroa, which he assumed was in reference to Australia, but which was actually another place. It had been used on many different maps, so while it was a mistake, it was still technically a name given to the land, which I'm using for the continent, while normal Australia is the nation.**

 **Also, if you want an idea of how dangerous Ulimaroa is, go to TV Tropes, find the trope 'death world', and there's an entire section on Australia.**

 **And it's tricky writing with different time zones. I think I keep messing things up.**


	104. Chapter 103

**Thanks to DiagnosisIntrovert, Inky-Paws, Eternal Nexus Warrior and three anons for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 103**

The following day everyone was up and about, bright and early. They all knew that they needed to complete this village as soon as possible. The shacks they had made were insufficient, and they all wanted to sleep in courters that weren't so confined.

China was waiting for White. The two would go back to the nearest city to shop for supplies. As luck would have it, some of the places decided that it would be a waste to stick with normal money (mostly because there were no longer any legal ways to acquire some more), and they were willing to trade. And since some of the nations had quite a fruitful mining industry…

China was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw White approaching, looking a little haggard.

"Sorry for the wait," she said. "So, shall we go?"

China nodded, and the two got into the car. The drive was silent, for the most part, and for some reason it unnerved China.

"Is everything in your country still alright?" China asked.

"I should be asking _you_ that," White said. "They want me alive. They want _you_ dead. Which means they're not going to be careful. And I heard of the border attacks."

China nodded, before he sighed.

"There have been a few acts of terrorism," China said. "Nothing _too_ large. But it's still alarming. And it would seem that one of Amodi's groups was attacking Nepal, and they might move on to me, or they might go to Bhutan, Bangladesh or Magyar. Nepal said that the ones attacking are the Korean and Philippine armies, and they're not taking any prisoners."

"Which Korea?" White asked.

"Both of them."

She nodded in understanding.

"And if we can assume that the nations are taking charge, then at least three of them are accounted for," White said. "And given Amodi's habit of doing things personally…"

"We can be sure that Philippines and North and South Korea are in Nepal," China said. "This is unlike anything I've seen before. They don't want to conquer. They want to _destroy_."

"I guess I can be glad that they decided that they could find use in the nations of my continent," White said. "But… Well, nothing's stopping them from demanding _more_."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm worried about the other Africans. I don't know why, but I get the nagging feeling that something's going to happen. For one thing, I can't even sense my neighbours around me. Which means that they're not in their countries."

"Do you think they might have been killed?"

White shook her head.

"I already asked Norway," she said. "He said that they're still alive, and that Amodi has no intention of killing them. But… He also said that England didn't come to him last night. And he said that it was probably because the magic is becoming difficult to manage. Even ghosts have limits, it would seem."

"I can't believe I'm missing England's presence," China said, twisting his face a little.

White smiled.

"I know what you mean," she said. "There was a time when I hated him. I still resent him a little. But I can't deny that I miss him. And at least he's been helpful, even if he's dead."

"Let's just hope that nothing too bad is happening," China said.

…

Canada was waiting at the airport with a bit of annoyance. He knew that it would still be a few hours before they arrived, but he had nothing better to do.

Ethiopia would be coming with a group of prisoners, and Canada would take them to his home, and the Washroom. It was only a shame that he couldn't get the nations that most deserved to be there.

He had gone to his other base the previous day, figuring that he could put Michoacán to use and put her in the Washroom as well, but when he arrived, it was to a bloody house; the scene of a battle. And he could see Kumajiro, lying dead in the middle of it. And Michoacán was gone. Needless to say, Canada was _beyond_ furious.

First he had lost the person he loved most, and then he had lost his best friend. If only he knew who was responsible for the events that led to Michoacán's freedom. He knew that _she_ wasn't the one that did it, but that she had been rescued.

If he knew exactly _who_ was in charge of Michoacán's rescue, then he would ensure that they suffered for killing Kumajiro. He didn't even care about the fact that Michoacán had escaped. She was being punished for injuring Egypt. Canada's desire to make her suffer for that had faded slightly after Egypt had been killed. Suddenly, an injury seemed insignificant.

And now Kumajiro was dead as well.

Canada looked up, trying to determine when the flight he was expecting would arrive. Seeing that he still had a few hours left, he scowled. He had been looking forward to making someone else suffer, but he couldn't do that now.

He sighed, trying to think of something to do. His eyes widened in realisation, and he took out his phone.

…

"Do you have any idea how early it is?" Belarus groaned, gripping the phone.

"I don't care," Canada said. "Kumajiro had been killed. I need you to find out who's responsible."

Belarus scowled, not too happy to learn that she had been woken up for the sake for a bear. But she didn't dare say that to Canada. She sighed in frustration.

"Give me some time," she said. "Something like this would take a while."

"I don't care how long it takes," he said. "As long as you find out what happened."

Belarus hung up the phone, before falling back onto the bed. She contemplated whether or not to go back to sleep, before groaning and standing up.

After she had found all of the new nations she had returned to her own country. Her intention had been to spend a few days of relaxation before she joined North Korea in their attacks. In fact, she and North had talked about splitting up from the group and forging their own path of destruction. She was sure that Switzerland was going to do the same with South Korea.

She idly wondered what Philippines would do, should that happen. Philippines had the choice of either going on her own rampage, or she could go back and wait for Italy or Poland to give her new instructions. Or, and this was something that actually disturbed the Belarusian, she could join the South Americans on _their_ rampage.

She knew what the South Americans were capable of, and ever since they've gained permission to release their inhibitions, they've given a new meaning to the word 'bloodlust'. They were, without a doubt, the most violent members of Amodi.

And she knew that Canada wasn't that far behind. After all, he _did_ share a few traits with the South Americans, which was why she knew that she couldn't simply ignore his request.

And it made sense that he would call her. She might not have been a true practitioner of magic, but she was still a fortune teller, and she _did_ have the Sight, as Romania called it. It wasn't too hard for her to learn the truth, even if the only ones that were privy to this information were ghosts.

Also, Finland had sent a message to everyone that Romania was not to be disturbed. He was apparently working hard on his own mission, doing research in his free time. According to Finland, Romania was quite high-strung, and it would be best to leave him in peace, at least for some time.

And she didn't know if Wales dabbled in fortune telling like the two Eastern Europeans, so Belarus was the obvious choice. Not that she liked it.

With a sigh, she started preparing everything that she might need.

…

Chile sighed in relief when he saw the large manor that served as the African base. He was almost rid of his cargo, and he would be able to have fun again.

Little Haiti was held like a sack against Chile's waist, and he was just thankful that she wasn't struggling. It was annoying whenever she did that.

He was greeted at the front door by Eritrea, who eyed his cargo.

"I take it that's the new Haiti?" he asked.

"That's right," Chile said. "Take her."

He put her down, and Haiti actually stumbled in Eritrea's direction, as though he was safer than Chile. Which, granted, he probably was. Eritrea chuckled at the little one.

"Come little one," Eritrea said. "Let's get you away from the mean savage."

"The irony is strong there," Chile said, rolling his eyes.

Chile turned and left, while Haiti took Eritrea's outstretched hand. Even though she didn't trust him, it was obvious that he was a lot safer to be around than Chile had been.

Eritrea led her inside, and he started making his way towards where he knew Algeria was. Ever since receiving the news that they would be keeping the new Haiti, Eritrea had looked around for someone to act as a caretaker for the young nation. Because there was no way that one of the members of Amodi would be able to act as a caretaker. Well, except for Wales, but Haiti was to be kept away from them. She knew the true nature of Amodi, and taking her near the other children would only make them distrust Amodi, and their work would have been for nothing.

He had settled on Algeria because of the similar languages. He also knew that she was one of the more maternal nations. And letting her take care of a young child would certainly keep her out of trouble.

He had been monitoring her all day so that when Haiti arrived, he could take her immediately to Algeria, and he wouldn't have to spend too much time with the child.

Algeria was in the library, reading a book. She wasn't alone. Many of the nations had opted to spend their time reading, since they didn't have much else to do. And as Eritrea walked up to her, he was aware of the other nations watching him nervously, but they had certainly noticed the little girl with him.

Algeria looked up just before he reached her. Her eyes quickly flitted to the child before settling on him, as though knowing that she was the one that he wanted. Eritrea smirked, coming to a stop right in front of her.

"Congratulations, Algeria," Eritrea said. "You've been chosen for the task of taking care of the new Haiti."

Algeria's eyes widened, before glancing towards the little girl.

"What happened to the former Haiti?" she asked.

"Apparently, the former Haiti killed himself before he could be captured or killed," Eritrea said. "But before doing so, he managed to ensure that he would have an heir. And now, _you're_ going to be the one taking care of her."

Algeria blinked at the revelation, but she relaxed slightly. She turned back to the little girl and smiled.

"So, you're Haiti?" she asked. "Or, do you perhaps have a different name?"

Haiti frowned, but she shook her head. Eritrea loosened his grip on her hand, and she immediately stumbled closer to Algeria. The older nation's smile widened.

"I'm Algeria," she said. "Are you hungry, petite?"

"Oui," Haiti said, smiling upon recognising the language.

Algeria stood, putting the book aside. She shot Eritrea a look as she extended her hand, which Haiti happily took. Algeria led the way out, the other Africans watching the scene.

"I thought you only wanted the Africans here?" Morocco asked, glaring at Eritrea.

"We do," he sighed. "But circumstances have forced us to take her in as well."

"Were you telling the truth about the former Haiti?" Chad asked.

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

No one interrupted him as he left. But hopefully the new addition would keep them busy for a while, if only to satisfy their curiosity.

…

Romania yawned, before he tensed. There was something seriously wrong. He tried to pinpoint the reason for the disturbance, and his eyes widened in realisation.

"Shit," he muttered.

…

Serbia was working on the house that he was supposed to be sharing with Slovenia upon its completion. He knew that he wasn't the most energetic at the moment, and he doubted that it would change anytime soon. He had lost his status as a nation, and he had been forced to watch as his family was slaughtered without him feeling anything. And all of those emotions had rushed back at once, and he hadn't had any time to process any of them.

And Slovenia… He had been keeping a _very_ close eye on Serbia, and it was… well, the correct word wasn't 'annoying', but… painful. Because it pained him to see Slovenia so worried about him. Slovenia had suffered through the same trauma that he did, with _one_ exception… And Slovenia was concerned about Serbia, and not for himself.

It hurt too much.

But he also couldn't help but wonder if Slovenia knew what was going through his mind. If he knew that Serbia had every intention to just… give up.

He wasn't the only nation that had been stripped of his status, he knew that. But Norway, at least, proved that he could be useful. Serbia… there was nothing that he could do. There was no longer a purpose for his existence. And the others… He was using resources that the others could have use for. He was only wasting everything. It would have been better if he was no longer there to waste resources that anyone else could better use.

He had been overcome with an overwhelming desire to end his life, ever since his emotions returned. He should have joined the rest of the Yugoslavians. And he wondered… Did Slovenia know about his thoughts and emotions? Was that the reason why he was keeping such a close eye on him?

Serbia bent to pick up a nail that he had dropped, but stopped, gasping in pain. He clutched his forehead, which still tended to hurt from the lobotomy. He only vaguely noticed that Slovenia was by his side.

"Serbia?" Slovenia asked. "What's wrong?"

Serbia didn't answer. He could barely even hear him. It felt as though he was submerged underwater. He could feel hands curling around his upper arms, but even when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.

As suddenly as it first came, it just stopped. Serbia was panting, and he vaguely noted that he was drenched in sweat. He couldn't quite tell what had just happened, but he instinctively knew that it wasn't bad, regardless of the pain.

Oh, he felt a strange tingle coming from Golubac…

His eyes snapped open, and he gasped in surprise. He barely even noticed that there were many other nations there.

He remained still, trying to confirm that what he was sensing was true. When he realised that it was indeed the case, laughter started to bubble from his mouth, and he didn't even realise that tears were streaming down his face. Even though he had no idea which emotions were at play, the laughter continued to build in volume.

He was snapped out of it by a sharp sting, and it took him a moment to realise that he had been slapped. He looked up to see Slovenia crouched in front of him, his face twisted in anger, but his eyes reflecting fear. That was when Serbia realised that he was leaning against the wall. He hadn't realised that his legs had given in on him.

"What is going on?" Slovenia asked, and Serbia could tell that he was confused and worried.

"Can't… Can't you tell?" Serbia asked, hoping that it wasn't just his imagination.

Slovenia's eyes narrowed in confusion before they widened, and his face lit up in delight. Serbia yelped when he was suddenly wrapped in Slovenia's arms.

"That's great!" Slovenia exclaimed. "But… _how_?"

"I don't know," Serbia said. "And I don't care. I'm a nation again!"

Perhaps he could actually be useful again.

…

Portugal made his way to his bedroom door, responding to the knock that had just come. When he opened it he saw Romano, and he was immediately on guard.

"Here," Romano said, placing a large bag near Portugal's feet. "That should keep you busy for a while."

Romano turned and left. Portugal blinked in surprise, before he opened the bag and investigated its contents. The bag was full of DVDs, and he gave a small smile. It should be possible to get some distraction out of this.

…

Wales yawned while he was making breakfast. As promised, he had gone out during the night while the children were sleeping. Using a spell to go to Canada's base had been exhausting, and actually casting the barrier spell drained him of even more energy.

And he had repeated the process in Finland and Sicily. So at the moment, their base in Africa was the only place that didn't have a magical barrier for their prisoners. He had run out of time.

And he hadn't slept at all. He only hoped that the children would give him the opportunity to sleep a little.

…

Canada smiled when he saw Ethiopia approaching, a group of chained nations behind him. Ethiopia looked at ease, while the prisoners appeared to be afraid, looking around for anyone that would help, but that would never come.

"It took you long enough," Canada said.

"Have you looked at a map?" Ethiopia asked. "The distance between us is grand. It takes a while to arrive."

Canada shrugged, sparing a glance to the prisoners. He could see that they had grown uncomfortable, but this time, it was from cold. It was clear that Ethiopia hadn't felt the need to tell them to prepare for the climate.

"Do you need to go back immediately?" Canada asked.

"I would prefer not to," Ethiopia said.

"You're welcome to stay at my house for a while. Once they're taken care of, I'll prepare some hot cocoa for you."

Ethiopia smiled, and the two Amodi nations left the airport, dragging their prisoners along.

 **I might have mentioned it before, but Africans are** _ **not**_ **fond of the cold. Most of the other South Africans I've spoken to said that anything under twenty is too cold. I'm one of the few that** _ **like**_ **the cold, but… let's just say a European winter is different from Africa. And it's actually still** _ **autumn**_ **. And two weeks ago, my mom informed me that in South Africa it was 32 degrees. That's** _ **spring**_ **weather. And we're not the warmest African country (we're quite a bit away from the equator). But let's just say that when we hear news reports of heatwaves in Europe, we laugh because that's what we call spring.**

 **Still, looking forward to some snow (which I'll hopefully get to experience). Last time I saw (proper) snow was sixteen years ago.**

 **And as you all know, there are a** _ **lot**_ **of characters in this story, and you could see that I tend to forget a few. So, if there's anyone you'd like to see in future chapters, let me know.**


	105. Chapter 104

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, Kattie, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Inky-Paws and NadiaJA627 for reviewing.**

 **A lot of you asked about Serbia regaining his status. And I believe I** _ **did**_ **explain that the lobotomy method was only temporary. Oh well. It's explained in detail in this chapter, along with Romania's plan with Serbia and Slovenia.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 104**

"Dammit, dammit, dammit…"

Romania kept muttering as he continuously smacked himself on the forehead. He had no idea how long he had been at it, but he didn't care. It wasn't until Finland grabbed his wrist and shoulder that he even realised what he was doing, and he winced at the sudden headache.

"What's wrong?" Finland asked.

"…You remember when I told you that the Romanian government was 'taking care' of the Yugoslavian region until they could 'finalise' the union, making a new nation?" Romania asked.

Finland nodded. It wasn't uncommon for older nations to handle the affairs of child nations. Especially when the child was still a toddler. During that time, the older nation had a certain amount of access to the younger nation's industry and politics. In other words, since Romania was the one who conquered that area, until Slavyu was ready Romania handled everything. But it was mostly just using the resources and having a slight connection to the land. Which meant that Romania could sense if something was wrong there.

"The Serbian government split away, and they chose to remain an autonomous country," Romania said.

"Okay," Finland said. "That's the human interpretation. What does it mean for us?"

"Serbia is completely and utterly healed of his lobotomy. The Powers that Be decided that he was ready to regain his nation status."

Finland widened his eyes. He knew the process of the lobotomy of a nation. It took a few days to recover from it, however, during that time, one is stripped of their nation status, since they weren't capable of taking care of their people. Their mental state was subpar, and it would be a lot safer for the nation to have someone like Hitler or Stalin in charge, since not only the government would topple, but the nature of the nation itself would turn on the lands. So the country was nationless for a few days while the nation recovered. And afterwards, it would take a few more days for the nation to recover their status. Once their emotions have become balanced again.

"I have to admit, I'm impressed," Finland said. "Only Bukovina managed to regain her status before, and that's only because we had to tie her down to keep her from committing suicide before we were sure if a nation could return to being a nation."

"I don't think it's something to be impressed by," Romania said. "Because I went into his dream and _tried_ to push him over the edge. Are you trying to tell me that my efforts were in vain?"

Finland flinched. He saw Romania's eyes flash, and knew that the other was close to snapping. He focused on his right hand, trying to send soothing emotions along the ribbon. He knew that if Romania _did_ snap, then he would do something that he would ultimately regret.

"Perhaps he _did_ try to commit suicide," Finland suggested. "But the others caught on. You can't sense if they attempt suicide in that state, right?"

Romania shook his head, though he looked to be calming slightly.

"No, I can't sense them," Romania said. "So I'll choose to believe that Serbia attempted, failed, and was given enough time to recover after his attempt. Because there's _no_ way that he's strong enough." Romania bit his lip. "Well, there goes my fun. I would have to take care of Serbia the next time I pay them a visit. And I'll have to get Slovenia too."

It had been his plan all along. He would leave Serbia and Slovenia alive, though Serbia would be in a less than desirable condition. It would certainly have hurt Slovenia to see his brother like that. But then, after Serbia recovered from the lobotomy, all of the repressed emotions would flood back to him at once, denying him a chance to process them at all. The trauma that he had lived through, combined with the disconnection from his land, would have driven Serbia to the point of suicide, and Slovenia would have had to watch as his entire family was killed, before he would ultimately be killed as well. He would have either been begging for death – wishing to be reunited with his family – or he would have put up a fight. Either possibility had been welcoming for Romania. The first would have shown Romania how much he had managed to break the otherwise proud Slovene, and the second would have given him another opportunity to break Slovenia.

But now it didn't matter, since by some cruel twist of fate, Serbia had recovered, and all of Romania's hard work would have been for nothing. Sure, he might still have suicidal tendencies, but Serbia wouldn't be in the right state of mind to find one that would have worked on a nation.

Romania had been so sure that his game would be successful, that now that it had failed, he was feeling angrier than ever.

The lobotomy of a nation was one of the ways in which a nation could be killed, but it wasn't a preferred method of Amodi. The preparation needed was too much of a hassle, and it was always amusing to see the fear in their victims' eyes when they realise that they were about to die. Even those who tried to face death with dignity would still have the fear in their eyes. But someone who had been lobotomised show _nothing_. The eyes already looked dead, and frankly, it tended to freak out even the nations of Amodi. A lobotomy would be reserved for torture, both for the nation afflicted and for the nations close to them.

But that didn't work, now did it?

Finland watched Romania as the other ground his teeth before he sighed.

"We should probably notify Wales," Finland said. "The little one in his care would have felt the same thing that you did, and would be confused. We need to give Wales a chance to think of a lie for what had happened."

Romania nodded his head, before he clutched his forehead.

"Do you think you could do that?" Romania asked. "I'm getting a headache."

"Of course," Finland said, smiling. "Rest now. You deserve it."

As he turned to leave, Finland looked down at the ribbon around his right hand. They had avoided a horrible situation, _this_ time. He would need to be careful. He didn't want Romania to do something that he would end up regretting.

…

"I see," Wales said. "Yes, I understand. Thanks for telling me."

Wales disconnected the call, before he went to check on the children. Finland had warned him that Serbia had broken free from their influence, and that Slavyu would most likely be feeling the effects as well. And if Slavyu was asking questions or looked as though he was catching on, then Wales would need to think of something to say to him.

The children were watching movies again, and Wales focused on Slavyu. The other looked a little pale, and he was worrying his lip, but he didn't look as though something was wrong beyond those actions. And he didn't look as though he wanted to ask Wales something as soon as he saw him.

Wales quietly left, hoping that he hadn't worried any of the children. If Slavyu wanted to know what was wrong with him, then Wales would simply spin a lie. That some of his friends had called him to say that some of the mean nations that wanted to hurt the children had stolen part of Slavyu's land. He would also tell him not to worry, as his friends were trying their hardest to get that piece of land back, and they would make sure that nothing like that happened to any of the other children. This lie… It would serve to make the children more afraid of Amodi's enemies. And while Wales felt guilty for deceiving them, he knew that it was completely necessary.

…

Norway was calmly sitting with the charms in front of him, only looking up when he saw Slovenia approach. Norway arched an eyebrow.

"You look happy," he said.

"I am," Slovenia said. "Um… Serbia regained his nation status. So… maybe there's hope for you."

Norway shook his head.

"Serbia's loss was always supposed to be temporary," Norway said. "But it was what he was supposed to do _before_ he regained his status that would have made the difference."

"What do you mean?" Slovenia asked, looking a little downtrodden.

Norway stared at Slovenia for a while before he sighed, gesturing to the other that he needed to sit, which he did.

"England explained to me how a nation's lobotomy works," Norway said. "That since they're unable to act as a nation during that time, they are stripped of their status. It takes a while to recover from the procedure, and then a while longer to recover their status."

"Okay…" Slovenia said. "So, why didn't you tell us about this sooner."

"First, I didn't want you to get impatient, waiting for Serbia to be a nation again," Norway said. "Second… I wanted to spare you from the truth of Romania's intention."

"What… What do you mean?"

Norway closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he fixed Slovenia with a firm look.

"In order for Amodi to know about all the things that would work and wouldn't work, they had to _learn_ whether or not it worked. In other words, they performed experiments."

Slovenia nodded.

"I already came to that same conclusion," Slovenia said. "And I'm assuming that there's more to it if you wanted to use that as your introduction."

"You're right," Norway said. "The lobotomy was another one of their experiments. And the results… Serbia is only the second to have completely recovered to the point of resuming his role as a nation. The others… The trauma of the lobotomy is usually so severe that, once they've recovered from it, but before they assume their former position, the victims all committed suicide."

Slovenia's breath hitched slightly, and he looked down.

"You said that Serbia is the second to completely recover," Slovenia said. "What about the first?"

"They had to restrain her to complete their experiments," Norway said. "The only reason why she didn't end up committing suicide is because she was prevented from doing so. They wanted to see if a nation could return to being a nation after suffering something like that. Afterwards, they lobotomised her _again_ , just to see the fear she had before she was forced to suffer that fate yet again, before they killed her. A lobotomy is one of the methods that Amodi uses to kill a nation, but it's a method that not even they are too fond of. So, they usually reserve it for torture."

Slovenia had significantly paled, and he was looking firmly at the ground.

"The lobotomy itself is traumatic," Norway continued. "And to recover your emotions and reason, but to be disconnected from your land, was enough to drive them all to suicide. That was before they started experimenting having something traumatic happen before, during and _after_ the lobotomy."

Slovenia shook his head, looking a little sick.

"Who did they experiment on?" Slovenia asked.

"Well, as you know, Quebec is the only region of the original Amodi nations to still be alive," Norway said.

It took a while for Slovenia to understand what Norway was saying, but once he did, his eyes widened in alarm.

"You… You mean that…?" Slovenia started, before he looked _really_ sick. "I can't believe… The things that they would do… They… they have no shred of humanity, do they? They're nothing more than… than _monsters_."

"I think we can _all_ agree on that," Norway said.

"Why… why didn't you warn me? What if… If Serbia…"

"I told you to keep a close eye on him, didn't I?" Norway asked.

Slovenia widened his eyes.

"You tried to warn me without being too obvious," Slovenia said. "But… why?"

"If you knew that there was a possibility that Serbia would try to commit suicide, how would you have acted?" Norway asked. "Would you have made sure that Serbia didn't have a means of killing himself?"

"Um…"

"In Serbia's fragile state of mind, he could have arrived at a multitude of possibilities if you started to act differently. And you definitely would have acted differently. You had also gone through the trauma of watching your family die, with the last living person being in a terrible situation. If you thought that he was at risk of hurting himself, you would have been overprotective, and it wouldn't have helped him at all. It would have given him the impression that you didn't trust him, or that you thought that he was weak, and he wouldn't have appreciated it. It would have only pushed him even further over the edge. You know better than I what kind of person Serbia is. I didn't want to take any risks."

Slovenia flinched, before he nodded.

"You're probably right," Slovenia said. "Serbia was already feeling guilty about what had happened with the rest. I do too. There's a possibility that things would have become chaotic. I… I see your point."

"If it helps," Norway said, "I've been keeping an eye on him as well."

"Thank you," Slovenia said. "At least everything's over now. I guess all that's left is to help him recover."

"Um…"

"Okay, when someone like _you_ does something like that, it can't be good."

"Romania had counted on turning the two of you into objects of his game. When the news reaches him that the game Is ruined, he will not be happy."

Slovenia shuddered.

"I think you might be right," he said. "Let's hope that we'd be able to survive the next time."

…

"And Romano just gave us all these DVDs?" East Timor asked.

"Sim," Portugal said. "I made it clear that we were bored. And that we found a video camera."

"You threatened them, didn't you?" Indonesia stated.

"Exactly. And they can't do anything to us."

"You _do_ know that they could always choose to punish you for trying to blackmail them?" Belgium asked. "And punishing you means they're going to hurt one of us."

"Technically, one of _us_ ," Macau said. "You're here for their grand scheme for Netherlands. The rest of us are here for Portugal."

"The blackmail was too small a part for them to deem it worth punishment," Portugal said. "And I made it clear that if we're too bored, we could make trouble for them. It's as much their attempt to keep us out of trouble as it is ours to keep entertained."

"You made sure that it's a win-win situation for all of us, didn't you?" Luxembourg said, smirking.

"As long as we don't exploit it, it should be fine," Portugal said, his smile falling. "I have a feeling that if we try to take advantage of the situation, then they might change their tactics, which could just make things more difficult for us."

"We understand," Mozambique said. "I think that it would only work with you, anyway. None of us would be able to do that."

"Are we going to keep talking or start watching?" Indonesia asked.

…

"Oh, you've had it difficult, haven't you, amigo?" Venezuela asked, laughing as he held the phone up to his ear.

"Shut up," Chile growled. "Please tell me that there's someone you haven't killed yet."

"Well… If you want, I haven't hit Samoa yet. And I've been eyeing him. But I'm willing to share."

"I'm flattered," Chile said sarcastically. "But… I guess it's fine."

"Great. See you there."

Venezuela chuckled as he hung up the phone. He admitted that it would be fun to collaborate with one of the others again. It was just like when they had gone after Spain.

And Samoa would be tricky to take down. Mostly because he was one of the tallest nations in the world.

…

Belarus massaged her temples. She had done several divinations, and all of them gave the same results.

Turkey and Russia were fine. It was the fact that South Africa and Brazil were part of the party. They couldn't allow Canada to attack the two of them.

Brazil needed to be reclaimed, and he needed to be punished for escaping. Belarus didn't know all of the details, but she knew that they couldn't risk for Brazil to be lost. And Israel wanted to reclaim South Africa, and Italy and Poland wanted them to be together again. Which meant that she needed to be quiet about South Africa and Brazil's involvement.

Although, South Africa had been involved in Michoacán's rescue, and hadn't really been involved with Kumajiro's death. So, she wouldn't have to lie about her involvement, or lack of involvement.

Belarus sighed, picking up her phone.

…

"So, you're telling me that the ones responsible for Kumajiro are Turkey and Russia?" Canada asked. "Anyone else? Because I don't see how two nations alone could handle Kumajiro if he was in his guardian mode."

Belarus was quiet for a moment.

"Well, they kept him busy while a third person went to rescue Michoacán," Belarus said. "And they got lucky."

"And who was the third one?" Canada asked.

"It doesn't matter, does it?"

"I would appreciate it."

"…I can't really say. But, there's really no reason why you need to go after them. Please, trust me on this."

Canada scowled.

"Who are you protecting?" he growled.

"I'm not protecting anyone," Belarus said. "But I don't think that Italy or Poland would enjoy having one of their targets become one of _your_ targets."

Canada ground his teeth. He knew that he would be limited, depending on who the target was. But if Belarus wasn't even willing to say who it was, then it was someone important.

"Fine then," Canada said. "And are you willing to give Russia away as target to someone else?"

"Go ahead," Belarus said. "I don't even care anymore."

Canada hung up the phone, grinding his teeth in frustration. He would need to think of his next course of action.

 **Writing the Portuguese nations reminded me of something that happened about a month and a half ago, where someone mistook me for being Brazilian. Even asked me if I spoke English. I had to explain that I'm a South African with Portuguese heritage on my mother's side. And no Brazilian influence,** _ **Portuguese**_ **. The funny thing is, it was an Austrian who asked me.**

 **Sorry. I was again pressed for time, so I didn't proofread. Sorry for any mistakes.**


	106. Chapter 105

**Thanks to SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 105**

Ethiopia was watching the different nations through the glass wall. He had some idea of what they were going through, and he was glad that he wasn't the one forced to endure such torture. A small part of him felt sorry for the victims.

But he wouldn't interfere. The nations in there were all prisoners, and they had mostly been occupying space. They hadn't been allowed to handle any official business, and were mostly useless. After Canada had reprogrammed all of their minds, they would be able to contribute more to Amodi than just resources.

Ethiopia looked away when he spotted movement in his peripheral, and he was pleased to see that it was Antarctica.

"What do you think of all of this?" Ethiopia asked.

Antarctica shrugged.

"I don't really care," Antarctica said. "I'm a little disappointed that I can't do more to help. Asides from the attack on Russia's base, I hadn't been able to do anything, and I'm quite bored."

Ethiopia grimaced, knowing that being bored was a major flaw of the members of Amodi.

"I can understand," Ethiopia said. "We were most active when we had to conquer the African nations. That was in the beginning. Since then, we were mostly charged with _babysitting_. I didn't go through everything, just to play the role of babysitter."

"If you're _really_ bored, I'm sure we can talk to Italy about giving you something to do."

Ethiopia jumped, and spun around to see Canada. What scared him was the fact that his ally had spoken in a voice that was _freezing_ , and his eyes were red.

Something had happened that made Canada even more enraged than he had been before.

Canada was eyeing them before he smirked.

"Actually, perhaps you would like to do _me_ a little favour," Canada said. "Belarus managed to find out who killed Kumajiro."

"…What?" Ethiopia asked, confused.

"My bear. My oldest friend had been killed by our enemies. Russia and Turkey, to be exact. I want revenge."

"Okay," Ethiopia said slowly. "And the 'favour' you need from me?"

"You can start by retrieving Gupta's pets in Egypt. Both Anubis _and_ Horus."

Ethiopia shuddered. He had heard reports from what was happening in Egypt, ever since the nation had died. And his pets were responsible for much of that.

"A-alright," Ethiopia said. "Anything else?"

"Ask them to take you to a certain tomb," Matthew said. "Gupta's been making sure that humans never found it. And I think it's time to unleash what's inside."

Ethiopia gulped nervously. He knew that Ancient Egypt had sealed a few things in her deserts that were never meant to see the light of day. Egypt knew it well, and had told them all about it. And Canada was planning to release them…

He was seriously regretting complaining about boredom.

…

"That's a lot of corpses," America said, clenching his fists.

Massachusetts had used his magic to summon all of the corpses of their fallen comrades. At least, those that could be revived. Seeing the state some of them were in, though… One could only imagine those that didn't want to be revived.

"It's horrible," Pakistan said.

Pakistan was on his knees next to Afghanistan's corpse, the other 'stan nations surrounding them. But Afghanistan had been his ally. His sister.

Thailand turned to Jordan, who was looking at the corpses in sorrow.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't get someone a bit closer to your side," Thailand said.

Jordan turned to him, a sad smile on her face.

"They wouldn't want to come," Jordan said. "They have been put through a lot by Egypt. And most of them would get a heart attack at the thought of working with America."

Pakistan chuckled.

"I can imagine Afghanistan's reactions when she wakes up," Pakistan said.

America pouted.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" America asked.

"No," Jordan said. "Not anymore. You've grown. But you still have your moments."

"Like?"

"America, you're pouting. I think that speaks for itself."

The others all chuckled at America's expense, and eventually America also cracked a smile.

"So, are you going to do all of them tonight?" America asked, turning to Louisiana.

"Are you kidding?" Louisiana scoffed. "This is going to take a lot of energy. I have to focus, and working on so many at a time… I can probably do two at a time, but only once a night. Unless you want mindless zombies?"

Jordan and Madagascar shifted nervously, feeling a little self-conscious.

"I would recommend that it _not_ happens," Jordan said.

"Because no matter how the rest of the war goes," Madagascar said, "the two of us have to return to the afterlife. And I doubt the others would be happy with us if we allowed that to happen."

"I'll work on someone tonight," Louisiana said, before glancing towards Pakistan. "Though I have a feeling I already know who."

Pakistan smiled, while America looked distressed. Thailand shook his head, a smile on his face.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Thailand said.

…

China looked anxious as he helped Turkey and Japan with dinner. Something was seriously wrong.

He closed his eyes as he focused on the source of the discomfort, and had to grab the edge of the counter when he realised what it was, as it also left him feeling dizzy.

"Hey!" Turkey exclaimed in alarm, rushing towards him. "What's wrong?"

China swallowed nervously.

"There's an intruder in my country," China explained. "And this time… I can tell, it's _not_ an ally."

"Are you sure?" Japan asked.

"He came in through India's borders," China said. "And… Several of my soldiers stationed at the border are dead."

"Is it India?" Turkey asked. "Since the intruder is coming in from there."

China shook his head.

"It doesn't feel like India," China said. "It feels… Middle Eastern."

"What?" Turkey asked. "Well, it can't be Egypt. He's dead. Which means…"

All three simultaneously widened their eyes when they realised who the intruder could be.

"Israel," China whispered.

…

Israel had borrowed one of India's cars and made his way into China. There were a few Chinese soldiers that had tried to interrupt him, but he managed to get rid of them.

 _Nothing_ would stop him. He didn't care how long it took, but he _would_ get White back. And he would make Brazil pay for stealing her in the first place. And he would eliminate all that stood in his way.

He knew that there would most likely be other nations – because why else would they go to _China_ – and Israel would probably have to fulfil his duties to the group and report their location to the others. And he would need to figure out a way to get to White and Brazil without alerting the other nations.

He slammed on the brake, and he was glad that his was the only car on the road. He had been so focused on getting to White and Brazil, he had neglected to think of the other nations. He didn't know how many of them were there, or _who_ was there. If he ran into the wrong nation, then he knew he would have a tough time.

He also couldn't allow any of them to fight back. He couldn't allow anyone to capture him. He couldn't allow White or Brazil to escape again.

But he had to be cautious. He would need to get out of there, and he would need to be able to take White with him. He couldn't afford to be captured or killed. The rest of Amodi would know if he had been killed, and he knew that no one would have any sympathy if he went in recklessly.

Groaning, he pulled out his phone.

…

"Looks like Israel left," India said.

He and Romano were lying together on the bed, India's arm wrapped around Romano. Romano sighed as he snuggled closer to India.

"You're probably happy," Romano said.

"Well, I don't have that nagging feeling of someone invading my space anymore," India said with a smile. "I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid or reckless."

"He's in love, he's angry, and the person he loves is with someone he's grown to hate. I'd be surprised if he's able to think of _anything_ else. But if he manages to get himself killed for being stupid… Veneziano will _not_ be happy. It's bad enough that Canada and Liechtenstein became unhinged. And being unhinged means that even Veneziano has a tough time controlling them. They'd only snap back when they do something insanely stupid, but that doesn't last long."

"But when they're unhinged and actually pause to think… they're quite dangerous. Canada's latest idea with the Washroom…"

"I'm okay with adjusting their loyalties. But completely rewriting their personalities and memories… Now, that's something that I did _not_ expect when I recruited him."

"But if our prisoners decide that they want to push us too far, we can always inform and threaten them."

Romano chuckled.

"A little payback for the blackmail," Romano said.

…

Poland sighed, massaging his temples with one hand, phone in the other hand and pressed against his ear.

"At least you stopped to think," Poland said. "So, somewhere in China?"

"That's where the base is," Israel said. "I think. "At least, that's where the ribbon is taking me."

"And the ribbon is never wrong." Poland was quiet for a moment. "This _could_ be a good opportunity to attack all our enemies. The only problem is that China could catch on. You're in his land, and he's a lot more mentally stable than Russia. We'd have to distract him."

"And how do we do that?"

"…Leave that to me. But I'll be needing something from your country."

"Whatever you need, it's yours."

"Alright, then you'll have to wait. I'll send a few nations to your location, and you can attack the group together. You'll just need to give a rendezvous point."

"I'm not too far from the border. As soon as I arrive near a town, I'll let you know which one."

"Good. And I'll inform everyone who's interested. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Alright. But South Africa and Brazil are _mine_."

"Understandable. And if Netherlands is there, then I'll have to ask that you leave _him_ alone."

"Fair enough. So, how long will it take?"

"A while."

"Dammit. I don't know if…"

"Listen, if you act rashly and get yourself killed, I'm going to ask Romania if there's a way to get to you in the afterlife and I'll personally make sure that you don't rest in peace, understood?"

"…Understood."

Israel hung up, and Poland groaned. Nations going unhinged were difficult to deal with. They had a one-track mind, and they were more likely to do something that would get them killed, weakening the entire group. Liechtenstein was lucky that she had been shot by a regular gun, but she had caused them to lose Puerto Rico.

At least Israel had been lucid enough to realise that he was being possibly suicidal.

But still, Israel had brought some good news. Their enemies were somewhere in China, and he possessed the ability to track them. Or at least, he could track South Africa. And according to Romania's reports, America was the only major target that wasn't with them.

This was an opportunity that they couldn't let slip. They had the opportunity to kill and/or capture a large number of nations.

They needed to get hold of another advantage in this war. They had far too many _dis_ advantages already, due to factors that they hadn't taken into account. Such as the nations of the world learning about their activities so early. And also the deaths of a few of their members.

He would go discuss with Italy, and then he would get to work with distracting China.

…

As soon as they had realised who the intruder was, China went off to search for White or Brazil. They needed to know the danger they were in. After all, Israel was after White, but he was also angry with Brazil.

And as luck would have it, the one he ran into first was neither of his targets, but someone who would know where they would be.

"Netherlands," China said. "Where is White or Brazil?"

Netherlands arched an eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know?" Netherlands asked.

"Because Israel is in my country."

Netherlands's eyes widened, and China would have laughed at his stoic rival not looking stoic for a change, if the circumstances had been different.

"Are you sure?" Netherlands asked.

"I've used all of my focus to make sure," China said. "The only thing I didn't do was go and check myself. But he left a trail of bloodshed behind him."

Netherlands looked alarmed.

"They need to know," he muttered. "I would rather spare her from the news, but they shouldn't be caught unaware."

China desperately nodded his head.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

"They're at the fields," Netherlands said. "You go there, and I'll get Norway."

"Right. He'll probably know how Israel managed to find us."

…

Finland entered the study, carrying a cup if tea. Romania was still hunched over the books, trying to find the other creatures that he had seen.

"Hey Vlad," Finland said. "I brought you some tea."

Romania jumped in surprise, and Finland could see the bags under his lover's eyes. Romania rubbed those eyes, before accepting the tea.

"Thanks," Romania muttered.

"I think you should get some sleep," Finland said.

"No. I need to be prepared for next time. I don't want to be caught by surprise. Again."

"But, if you keep going at this rate…"

"I don't care! I can't actually torture anyone, and those little charms and guards made sure that I can't even enjoy causing a proper nightmare anymore. I need to get past everything. It's something that only I can do."

Finland sighed, understanding that Romania was feeling bored, frustrated and useless. Finland felt the same. He placed his hand on Romania's shoulder.

"I know the feeling," Finland said. "I'd like to have some fun as well. If only we didn't have to babysit Iceland and the others."

Finland watched as Romania drank the tea, and once he had finished it all he turned to Finland.

"Tino, I'm sorry," Romania said. "I know that this is hard on you as well. If only I managed to get Alexandru to join us _willingly_ …"

"We both knew that that wouldn't have happened," Finland said. "And I know that you don't want to use brainwashing on him. At least he's out of danger."

Romania nodded, though it almost looked as though he was about to drop his head. He shook his head, and Finland smiled as Romania turned to look at him.

"T-Tino?" Romania asked, trying to stand.

"I told you," Finland said. "You need some sleep."

Romania sagged against Finland, and the latter's smile widened as he threw Romania's arm around his shoulders, leading him to the bedroom.

"Y-you… drugged me," Romania said.

"Only because I love you," Finland said. "And I can't bare to see you like that."

By the time they arrived at their room, Romania had completely succumbed to the effects of the sleeping pills that Finland had snuck into the tea. When he had gone limp, Finland had been forced to carry Romania bridal style.

Finland tucked his lover into the bed, smiling softly as he saw the other fast asleep. He would deal with Romania's anger after he woke up, but for now, Romania deserved his rest.

He jumped when his phone started to ring, and he quickly ducked out of the room before answering it.

"Yes?" he asked in a business-like tone.

"We have a lead to the location of our enemies," Poland said. "We decided to take full advantage of it. I want to know if you and Romania are interested."

Finland bit his lip. While it was a good opportunity, Romania needed his rest.

"When will this attack be?" Finland asked.

"Not immediately, if that's what you're worried about," Poland said. "You're the first person I called, after all. And we still need to make arrangements with Israel."

"…How did you get your lead, exactly?"

"Israel's ribbons. He can track down South Africa."

Finland smacked his forehead.

"Why didn't we think of that before?" he asked.

"Because none of us have been separated from our lovers in the same way Israel has been separated from his love _interest_. Their love is unrequited, but exposure to our Bonds has made Israel gain an obsession as strong as our love. And in that obsession, he wants to be reunited with the object of his affection."

Finland shook his head.

"I don't know whether or not it's good that you tried so hard to get them together," Finland said. "Vlad's resting now. I'll ask him when he wakes up. But I think he'd be interested. And I doubt our prisoners would be capable of causing trouble. They know they can't escape, anyway."

"Whatever," Poland said. "Just let me know. It might be the most fun we'll be having in a while."

"I'll let you know then."

Finland leaned against the wall. Yes, it would be the most fun that they would have in a while. As long as they avoided fatalities. At least on their side.

And he knew that their prisoners wouldn't be able to do anything.

Shaking his head, Finland decided to make his way to the kitchen. He could use a nice hot cup of cocoa.

…

"W-what?" White asked, growing pale.

Brazil had his arm around her shoulders, but he looked just as horrified.

"I'm sorry," China said. "But it's definitely him. There's no other possibility."

"I-it can't be him," White said.

"I'm afraid it is. But thankfully, it seems that he had stopped for the night. Norway will tell us how he would know where to find us."

White shook her head, and Brazil wrapped her in a proper hug. China watched the two younger nations, and hoped that it wouldn't end badly for them.


	107. Chapter 106

**Thanks to Eternal Nexus Warrior, SansTheLanguage218 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 106**

Seborga joined the other former micronations in the lounge. He smiled as he looked over his friends, seeing that they had all grown a little older after becoming full-fledged nations. Though it was sad that Molossia was no longer with them. And he was glad that his brother hadn't treated his friend's death as nothing. Veneziano might have been careful of showing it, but it was clear that some of the deaths had really gotten to him. It was especially true for some of those that have been members for a long time.

Sadly, Puerto Rico didn't qualify.

But even though all of them were upset over Molossia's death, no one was more upset than Liechtenstein. And Seborga couldn't blame her. Thinking of the possibility of something happening to Hutt River… He wasn't sure what he would do, but he knew that the loss would destroy him.

As though sensing him, Hutt River turned to face him and smiled. Seborga returned the smile before he went to sit down next to his boyfriend.

"I have good news for you," Seborga said, addressing the room at large.

"A new mission?" Sealand asked eagerly.

"Something like that," Seborga chuckled. "An attack."

"What do you mean?" Wy asked. "And what's the difference?"

"We have a way to track down our enemies. Veneziano and Poland decided that we should launch a large attack on them, before they move to a new base, and we'd need to track them down all over again. And, the more nations we get to join the attack…"

"I get it," Hutt River said. "But, as usual, we get the choice, right?"

"Exactly."

The others were silent for a while, weighing their options. They knew that they _wanted_ to join, but would they be helpful? The shadow of Molossia's death hovered over them.

"I'm in," Sealand said.

"So am I," Ladonia said.

One by one, the others agreed. Seborga gave a small smile. At least his friends put some thought into this. If they had gone into it impulsively…

"Then I'll go tell Veneziano," Seborga said, standing up.

He was already out the door when he realised that Hutt River was following him. He turned around, only to be pinned against the wall by his boyfriend. Hutt River used his arms to cage the older nation, and Seborga looked up to the taller one. It always irked him that he was older, but Hutt River was taller.

"When we go for the attack," Hutt River said quietly, "I want you to be close to me. I don't want you out of my sight."

Seborga swallowed thickly, blushing slightly. He gave an awkward smirk.

"Are you telling me what to do?" Seborga teased. "I'm older than you, after all."

"But you're so much smaller," Hutt River said, drawing closer. "Please, just promise me."

Hutt River was so close, Seborga could feel the other's breath on his lips. Seborga closed his eyes.

"Only if you promise me that you'll be careful," Seborga whispered. "I don't want to lose you."

"Agreed," Hutt River whispered, before closing the distance between them.

Seborga melted into the kiss, and he would have pressed further, if it weren't for someone clearing their throat.

The two broke away, and turned to see San Marino standing there, looking annoyed and with red cheeks. Seborga blushed as well, and he understood what Veneziano kept complaining about.

"C-Carlino," Seborga said. "Anything I can help you with?"

San Marino clicked his tongue, shaking his head in disgust.

"And all I wanted was to use the bathroom…" San Marino muttered.

From San Marino's office, if one wanted to go to the bathroom, then passing the lounge was necessary. It was just bad timing.

"I-I have to go tell Veneziano that everyone else agrees," Seborga muttered hurriedly, before he started to leave.

He could have sworn he heard San Marino mutter something.

"Big brother, awkward, but no problem. _Little_ brother, and I _really_ didn't want to see that."

…

Brazil was holding White, trying to comfort her. Netherlands and Norway had joined them, and Norway shook his head.

"I think those Bonds are responsible," Norway said. "Even though it's unrequited, Israel still shares the Bonds with White. But combined with the rest of Amodi's Bonds…"

"So, it's my fault…" White said. "And he'll be able to find us now."

"Don't blame yourself," Netherlands said. "It's not your fault that you have a stalker. But…"

Netherlands turned to Norway and China.

"Will we be able to track Portugal?" Netherlands asked.

"Of course," Norway said. "You two are connected to him. But it's not necessary. He's at their base in Sicily, with Romano and India keeping an eye on _him_ , Belgium, Luxembourg, and all of the other Portuguese and Dutch former colonies."

"Except us," Brazil and White said flatly.

"Well, they took _me_ there," Brazil said.

"But never _me_ ," White said. "Probably because of Israel. I think I would have preferred to be a prisoner _there_ , instead of being Israel's… I don't even know what to call that."

"It would be a good idea to stop talking," Netherlands said. "The less I know…"

"Anyway," Norway interrupted. "Even if Israel could track you, China should be able to tell where he is at all times."

China nodded.

"He's in a small village near the border of India," China said. "It would take him a while still to reach us."

"You know, I never asked," Netherlands said. "Where exactly _are_ we?"

"We're almost on the complete opposite side of the country," China said. "But nowhere near a major city. It would take him a few days to come here, even by car. And this place is in general overlooked. I made sure of that."

"So, you'd know if he was close?" Brazil asked.

"Exactly."

White sighed in relief.

"I… I think I need to go," White said. "Before…"

"And where are you going to go?" Norway interrupted. "Israel would simply change course. You can't return to your own country, and neither can Brazil. I don't have a country anymore, and it isn't safe for Netherlands. If you flee to another country, you'll have to take the nation with you, if you want any hope of knowing if Israel is approaching or not."

"And you'll need to keep running," Netherlands said. "Is that what you want?"

White bit her lip, before averting her eyes. Brazil's own eyes widened, as though realising something.

"You were planning on getting away from us," Brazil said. "And meeting him alone."

"I just…" White whispered. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"But if you leave, then I _will_ be hurt. I'll feel as though I'm too weak to protect you. I'll feel as though you don't have any trust in me. Trust that I would be able to handle whatever Amodi throws at me. Whatever _Israel_ throws at me. That lack of trust… It hurts, you know?"

White was simply staring at Brazil before she cracked a smile.

"Dankie," she whispered. "I guess… I should stay. Don't want you getting hurt, nè?"

Brazil smiled in relief.

"Ek hou van jou," White said.

Brazil looked startled, before his smile brightened, his eyes closing as well, until the smile fell and his eyes snapped open in realisation.

"W-wait," Brazil said. "Is that… Dutch or Afrikaans?"

White giggled, and without answering, she started making her way back to camp. Brazil's jaw dropped, and he looked at Netherlands, who was smirking in amusement.

"W-was that Afrikaans or Dutch?" Brazil asked desperately.

"What does it matter?" Netherlands asked in amusement.

" _Everything_!"

"I'm kind of impressed that you know the subtle difference."

"Just tell me now! Which language was it?"

Netherlands shrugged.

"Her accent makes it hard to distinguish," Netherlands said. "For all _I_ know, it could have been either one. It doesn't really matter much. We can understand each other regardless."

Brazil groaned, clutching his hair.

"You are the worst!" he said, before storming off.

China and Norway looked between Brazil and Netherlands, confused about what was going on. Netherlands decided to share the cause of his amusement, which led to them becoming equally amused.

…

Israel jumped when his phone rang, but he was quick to answer it.

"Tell me," Poland said from the other end, "are they anywhere near Beijing?"

"I can't tell that," Israel said. "I know she's somewhere in China, but I don't exactly know _where_ they are. But… I don't think they're anywhere near a major city."

Poland sighed on the other end.

"Then I guess we'll just have to wing it," Poland said. "But I hope for your sake they aren't."

Israel frowned. He could tell that it wasn't a threat, but genuine concern. Which meant that Poland intended to attack Beijing, and he hoped that White wasn't there, because for Israel's sake, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"I hope they aren't either," Israel said, before hanging up.

…

Italy approached Liechtenstein, who looked as though she was preparing to head out.

"Wait," Italy said. "I think we have something that you _might_ be interested in."

Liechtenstein paused, regarding him with cold, blank eyes. Italy didn't take it personally.

"We have an idea about where we can find our enemies, and we're planning an attack," Italy said. "Care to join us?"

"Is America with that group?" Liechtenstein asked.

"Er… no."

Liechtenstein shook her head.

"Then I have no interest," Liechtenstein said. "America is the only one I'm interested in. I have every intention of making _him_ suffer."

Italy sighed, shaking his head. Though, he couldn't say that he was surprised. He had expected her to lose interest when she found out that America wasn't going to be included in the attack.

"I understand," Italy said. "Are you going back now?"

"I feel that I've been given ample time to recover," Liechtenstein said. "Best to head out now, wouldn't you say?"

"I agree. And since our plans for Yellowstone turned out to be fruitless…"

"It's going to be tricky, going after his states without Puerto Rico's help to guide me," Liechtenstein said. "But I'm sure I can find them."

She smirked, and Italy gave a small smile of his own.

"Good luck then," he said. "And just be careful. We don't want you getting injured. Again."

The corner of her mouth twitched downward, but she heaved a heavy sigh.

"Alright, understood," she said. "Good luck with your own attack."

"Grazie," Italy said, before walking away.

He supposed that he should thank his lucky stars that he had caught her while she was lucid. It was a _lot_ easier to deal with her then.

…

America shuddered. He had a horrifyingly ominous feeling.

…

Mexico groaned while she reached out to answer the phone.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"How are you feeling?" Italy asked on the other side. "Do the burns still hurt?"

"The burns are alright, but now we're stiff. What do you want? I know you didn't call just to enquire about our health."

"While it _is_ a matter of concern for us, you're right. How would you like to take part in an attack against most of our enemies?"

"…I'm listening."

"We've found a way to locate their base. And since this war has mostly been successful in wiping out non-combatants, we need to gain an advantage over the number of nations actively against us."

Mexico was silent for a moment as she pondered Italy's offer.

"Well," she finally said, "I'll have to check with Confederacy, but I'm in. And I'm sure she'd be interested as well. When and where?"

"There are still a number of arrangements we'll need to sort out, but I'll let you know as soon as we're certain of all the practical details," Italy said.

"Thanks."

…

"The timing is all wrong," Canada muttered into his phone. "The reprogramming will take at least a week. There's not enough time if you're planning a massive attack like that."

"Alright, so we can't use your projects," Poland sighed. "What about _you_?"

"I would need to stay here to make sure that nothing goes wrong with them. It's not like this will be the final battle. We both know that there will be survivors. Since they've also gained the power to teleport, it's almost guaranteed that at least some of them will escape."

"…As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. But we should be able to determine who, and how many of them are left. That knowledge can be used for your projects."

"Alright. And they should be ready for the next time. Just let me know about the battle. The day, and the results. Also, leave Russia and Turkey alive, even if only barely. I want to punish them myself."

"…Very well. Good luck with your project."

…

"Veneziano called," Romano sighed.

"Bad news?" India asked.

"Not exactly. They're planning an attack on the enemies. They managed to find a way to track them down."

"And?"

Romano turned to India.

"I _want_ to go," he said, "but I know that we can't leave the prisoners here. Which means one of us should stay behind, or…"

India smiled, before he gave Romano a small kiss on his forehead.

"If you want to go, then go," India said. "Go, have fun. I'm sure there will be other attacks."

"But…" Romano started.

"No. I'm fine. You want to go. And you haven't had a chance to do something with any of your brothers, right? So, go. Have fun. Just be careful."

Romano smiled, hugging India.

"Thanks," Romano muttered.

…

"A mass attack, huh?" North asked. "Sounds fun."

"And both Belarus and Switzerland have agreed to go," South said. "This could be an edge. And we'll be able to see if Nepal had joined them or not."

"So, are we putting our attacks on hold?" Philippines asked.

"Looks like it," South said. "But it would be more fun to see our enemies again. Maybe get China and Japan while we're at it."

"Sounds good," North said.

…

China woke up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain. He could feel a large amount of his population suffering, buildings being reduced to dust.

It took a while, but soon the other Asians were by his side. Japan was the one that came to examine him, since China was incoherent and couldn't hear what they were saying. Once Japan saw China's chest, he drew back, a look of horror on his face. He recognised those injuries.

"What is it?" Taiwan asked in alarm. "What's going on?"

"There… China was attacked," Japan said. "By a nuclear weapon."

The others were silent as they processed this, staring at either Japan or China in horror. Japan took hold of China's head, placing his palms on both of China's cheeks.

"I need you to tell me where the attack happened," Japan said. "Tell me if you can hear me."

China, through the haze, managed to get the gist of what Japan was saying, and swallowed thickly.

"B-Bei… jing…" China gasped.

The others were horrified to hear that China's capital was attacked, and Taiwan's hands even went to cover her mouth as she gasped. Japan barked orders to the others, and they scrambled to follow them, all of them eager to help China in whatever way they could.

…

Poland smirked, watching the computer. It had taken a while, but the warhead he had sent to Beijing seemed to have landed, and it was already doing some damage.

The idea had been to use a small warhead. He didn't want to cause _too_ much damage. Just enough to distract China for the next few days while they finished their preparations. It wouldn't do them good for China to sense the attack coming and warn the others. With this, he shouldn't be aware of anything else in his country. In fact, it was more than likely that the country, or at least the areas surrounding Beijing, would fall into chaos, thus distracting him further.

As long as China didn't realise that they were moving in his country, everything would work out alright.

…

Laos whimpered, curling in on himself. Tibet and Hong Kong were by his side immediately.

"What's wrong?" Tibet asked.

"The mirror…" Laos whispered. "It's close to shattering."

Tibet and Hong Kong shared a glance.

"That does _not_ sound good," Hong Kong commented.

…

"I'll have to decline," Venezuela said. "I promised Chile that I would let him torture and kill Samoa with me. Unless he decided that he wants to join?"

"No," Italy said. "He said that he wouldn't get a chance to play around if we launch a massive attack."

"He has a point. Sorry."

"I guess it can't be helped. Have fun with Samoa."

"Thanks."

…

Ethiopia made himself comfortable. He was pleased that he was on a private plane, but he was a little upset that he needed to fly again. And to _Egypt_ …

When Italy called and told him of the impending attack, he had to decline the offer to join. Canada had asked him to help, and he didn't want to anger the unhinged nation by not doing it. And the sooner he could do it, the better.

But he couldn't help but think that what Canada wanted to do… It wouldn't end well. Not even for them.

…

"So, what do you think?" Somalia asked.

Somalia, Libya and Eritrea were discussing Italy's proposal in their office.

"Someone would need to stay behind," Libya pointed out. "Thanks to the prisoners."

"You have a point," Somalia sighed. "So, any volunteers?"

None of them raised their hands. Somalia shook his head.

"And Ethiopia isn't here," he muttered. "And he sent me a text, saying that Canada asked a favour from him."

"So, what should we do then?" Eritrea asked.

There was silence for a moment.

"Looks like we're drawing straws," Somalia sighed.

…

Louisiana cracked her knuckles, glancing towards the corpse. They had brought the corpse in earlier, and after resting, Louisiana was ready to revive the nation.

Even if America wasn't too happy about the arrangement.

She smirked, imagining what would happen when the two saw each other. Well, one way to find out.

Time to get to work.

 **The last part of this chapter was quite difficult to write. I didn't know what to add. But I** _ **did**_ **want to end with Louisiana.**

 **So, about Brazil's question about the phrase being Afrikaans or Dutch… The Dutch** _ **ik hou van je**_ **and Afrikaans** _ **ek hou van jou**_ **look and sound almost identical, and accent could in fact influence the sound. The** _ **meaning**_ **, however… The Dutch phrase means 'I love you', while the Afrikaans phrase means 'I** _ **like**_ **you'. And when your crush says that… You can see why Brazil wants to know which language White is speaking. And I know that the written version is Afrikaans… But even if White said it in Dutch, her accent would make it sound like the Afrikaans phrase. So really, it could be either one.**

 **And in general, someone speaking Dutch and someone speaking Afrikaans can understand what the other is saying, once you've tuned in your ears. I've actually had the opportunity to try it out. Of course, it helps to be aware of the differences between the languages. Afrikaans is only 90-95% Dutch, after all. If you want to see it in action, there's an interview with Charlize Theron, where she's speaking to a Dutch-speaking Belgian reporter in Afrikaans. Look for it on YouTube.**

 **I also had to do some research to see that a nuke wouldn't cause more damage than wanted. And it helps that Poland sent a small one.**


	108. Chapter 107

**Thanks to Elsa, Abcd, SansTheLanguage218 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Sorry for the lateness. Motivation to do…** _ **anything**_ **is a bit low. It's a bit late for a lot of you, but merry Christmas.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 107**

"Why is it _her_ that Louisiana is bringing back?" America griped.

"Because Louisiana could see that it would make Pakistan happy," Massachusetts said. "And, since this _is_ a war, we could use someone like that. You should know better than anyone how valuable she would be in this war."

America pouted, but he knew that Massachusetts was right. The state sighed.

"If it makes you feel any better, Louisiana said that she was going to try to bring _two_ people back tonight," Massachusetts said. "And I'm sure Pakistan would help you out if things became uncomfortable between you."

America rolled his eyes.

"This is a bad idea," America stated.

"Just _try_ to get along," Massachusetts said.

America shook his head, before cocking it to the side.

"So, who is the other person that she's reviving?" America asked.

"Don't know," Massachusetts said, frowning. "She was still in the process of deciding when I last saw her."

"Hopefully it's someone that can help keep the peace," America said. "I wouldn't mind if it's Germany."

…

The entire camp had been woken by China's screams, and after determining that they were not being attacked and that the screams were not the result of a nightmare, everyone made their way towards the house, worried for their comrade. The screams were far too harsh to even remotely be considered safe.

They knew that they all couldn't go into the house. If something was indeed happening, then they wouldn't want to add to China's distress. But they still wanted to help.

It took a while, but eventually Norway (who was still living in China's house) came out, looking worried, and that worried the others.

"Norway, what's going on?" Netherlands asked.

Norway sighed, running his hand through his hair. His actions didn't ease anyone's minds.

"China was attacked," Norway said. "Japan is tending to him."

"What happened?" Russia asked.

"Amodi – because it couldn't be anyone else – sent a nuclear bomb to Beijing."

The others started murmuring. The news was alarming. Some of them had seen Japan after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To say that they were worried about China was an understatement.

Near the back, White had grown several shades paler, and Brazil looked at her worriedly. Russia also glanced in her direction, but he was more worried about helping China in any way.

"Is there something any of us could do to help?" Russia asked.

"I don't know," Norway said. "Japan is tending to his wounds. It… It looks bad. But… If there's something that someone can do, I'm sure Japan will ask for help."

The others all murmured their agreement, and they started making their way towards their own shacks. Turkey and Russia stayed behind, being in a leadership position among their group, along with China. Netherlands also lingered.

White, on the other hand, went the opposite way, and Brazil hesitated for a moment between helping his friend and going after his love interest. In the end, he figured that China had enough nations to support him, and he went after White.

…

Israel frowned, stirring from his sleep. He could sense something, and it took him a moment to find out what it was.

The country he was currently in had been attacked with something that originated from his country. Specifically, a nuclear weapon that his people had been working on, with the help of the South African people.

He remembered what Poland had asked him about using something from his land. Realising what it was, he smirked. He wasn't the only one with nukes in Amodi, but he could see the added cruelty.

Israel's weapons received some collaboration from South Africa. And regardless of the amount, White was still involved. Once the others realised that, it would not be something easily forgotten. It could cause tensions between them, and White might possibly be shunned for her (unwilling) involvement in the attack of an ally. And if she was shunned, she would be isolated. Which would make her more likely to come with Israel.

There was also more to it, of course. It would hurt China far more emotionally if a weapon that one of his allies had collaborated on was used to attack. If it had been a weapon provided by the Koreas or India, it wouldn't have been as effective.

It also served another purpose. If China was reeling from an attack, then he would have a hard time sensing their presence. This was something that nations had come to learn during the Cold War. And even before that, when the bombs dropped on Japan. It was one of the things that convinced them of the dangers of those weapons. And one of the things that made them come to fear being on the receiving end of such an attack.

All was fair in love and war. And for Israel, it was both. He would do anything to get White back, and he would allow the other members of Amodi to do anything to help him get her back. And thanks to the Bonds, he knew that none of them would stand in his way. It would be to their own detriment.

Perhaps that was why Italy and Poland used the Bonds in the first place. Because even if they had their own agendas, it would be impossible for them to betray each other. Given what's happened in previous wars, he couldn't blame them for the precaution.

With thoughts of how things were working out for them, he smiled as he fell back asleep.

…

"So, you're going to Vatican?" India asked.

"Si," Romano said. "I'm going to rendezvous with them there, and then we'll arrange for the others. I'm leaving first thing in the morning."

India smirked, making Romano pause in his preparations.

"So, this will be our last time together for a while," India said. "Why don't we make the best of it?"

Romano blushed as he realised what India was implying, and he gave a small smile.

"You're insatiable," Romano huffed playfully.

…

"Anika!"

White had stormed towards the stream, and she came to a stop when she heard Brazil call out to her. She didn't turn around, and waited for him to catch up. This both relieved and scared Brazil.

"America once told me something," White said. "That when he attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he could sense it as well. He said that… it was as though the higher powers wanted to punish him for inflicting pain like that on a fellow nation."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Brazil asked.

"The weapon Amodi used… It had South African influence."

Brazil's eyes widened.

"What you said…" he started. "About Amodi forcing Israel and South Africa to collaborate on that again…"

White nodded her head, turning to face Brazil. She had tears streaming down her face.

"I'm partially to blame for China being hurt," she whispered.

Brazil wrapped her in a hug, and she clung to him.

"No," he said firmly. "You are _not_ to blame. You had no choice, and you did _not_ send the bomb to China."

Her breath hitched, and she clung tighter to him.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why me?"

"I can't answer that," Brazil said. "But Amodi's playing these games with everyone. They want to hurt us the worst way possible."

White gave a wry chuckle, before shaking her head.

"No, not that," she said. "Why… Why do _you_ love _me_?"

Brazil blinked in surprise, and he turned to look down at her. She was looking at him with vulnerable eyes, something he didn't see too often, and it made him blush.

"Um…" he said. "Well, right now you look _very_ cute."

"…You think I look cute when I'm crying?"

She had said it in a deadpan voice, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Rascal looks cute as well," Brazil said quickly. "Meerkats look cute too. And… Well, a lot of your animals _look_ cute, but they're really vicious and savage creatures."

White burst out into laughter, and Brazil gave a small smile. One of the things he had learned a long time ago was that the female nations were especially dangerous when angry. After all, out of everyone in Amodi, asides from Israel, the only one Brazil _didn't_ want to see was Argentina. Ever since he first saw their true colours, _she_ was the one that scared him most.

"And your laugh is also quite adorable," Brazil said. "You are both beautiful and dangerous. And you're interesting. I mean, how many countries dance when they're angry?"

Her laughter bubbled again, and Brazil felt his heart flutter. He much preferred to see her laughter than her tears.

"Laughter suits you better than tears," Brazil said gently.

She smiled, before giving him a peck on the cheek. He blinked in surprise before beaming.

"And you know just what to say," she said quietly. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said. "Now, why did America tell _you_ about it?"

White rolled her eyes.

"We were once in a similar boat," she said. "We shared a few drinks."

"…Just drinks, though?"

"Ja. Just drinks."

…

The group looked up when the door to Louisiana's house opened, and America wilted upon seeing the nation stepping out. Pakistan, on the other hand, brightened up, and he jumped to his feet to greet her.

"Afghanistan!" he exclaimed, before throwing his arms around her in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you. When I heard you were killed…"

Afghanistan rolled her eyes, but returned the hug. She gazed over to the rest of the group, her eyes lingering on America. But she didn't scowl, as everyone expected.

"It's nice to see you again too," Afghanistan said. "But we have something important to discuss."

Pakistan pulled away, his joy gone. The rest of the group could tell that it really was serious. Pakistan and Afghanistan returned to the rest, and Afghanistan joined the circle.

"You need to get in contact with the others back in China," Afghanistan said.

"Is something happening?" Thailand asked, to which Afghanistan nodded.

"Thanks to England's repeated trips to see Norway, and what you're doing right now… Let's just say, the gates are fragile, and the powers are trying to compensate."

"Meaning…?" Massachusetts prompted.

"The revivals are consuming more energy than necessary," Afghanistan said. "And… Well, at the moment, no one can contact Norway. No one can warn them."

"Warn them about what?" America asked nervously.

"Amodi's planning an attack. A large one. Thanks to those Bonds of theirs connecting Israel with White South Africa, Israel can track her, and Amodi knows their location, or at least are capable of finding it."

"What?!" everyone exclaimed.

"It gets worse," Afghanistan continued. "Amodi sent a nuclear bomb towards China. Which means he wouldn't even be able to sense them coming for quite some time. Which means that they can take as much time as possible. They can be fully prepared, and they can get as many members involved as possible."

"Not if we stop it," America said, gritting his teeth. "When is it happening?"

"…I don't know," Afghanistan admitted. "But they're still in the planning phase. Oh, and America…"

America winced, expecting a verbal attack from the female nation. But what she said surprised all of them.

"Liechtenstein has recovered," she said. "And she's coming back to hunt for your states."

America glanced towards Massachusetts, who shuddered a little at the news. America turned back to Afghanistan and narrowed his eyes.

"That won't happen," America said. "She's not getting her hands on them. We told all of them to go hide. She shouldn't be able to find them."

"They have their ways," Afghanistan said. "They did it with the new Haiti. The states in particular… especially those that have a similar presence as yours. All that they would need to do is kill a few of the state's citizens while focusing on the state. And if they wanted to, the former micronations would also be able to help."

America gritted his teeth. Thailand looked towards him and sighed.

"If you want to do something to help your states, we'll understand," Thailand said.

America shook his head.

"I know that she's coming," he said. "I'll be able to sense when she comes. And I'll be able to tell where she is. So hopefully, I'll be able to get to her before she hurts any of my states."

"And what are you going to do when you find her?" Afghanistan asked.

"I'm going to end this once and for all."

Afghanistan nodded, as though she approved of America's decision. Pakistan shuddered. Seeing the two of them on the same page…

"This really _is_ the end of days," Pakistan muttered.

"I heard that," Afghanistan snapped. "And Canada's also planning something."

"What is it?" America asked.

"Brainwashing. He's planning to use nations as mercenaries. And there's something else he's planning, but… Well, our knowledge is limited. It's _something_ in Egypt's land."

"Couldn't you ask Egypt?" Pakistan asked. "Or… is he not in that part of the afterlife?"

"Nope," Afghanistan said. "We don't even know where they are. The nations of Amodi aren't interacting with their victims."

"Thank goodness," Madagascar said. "Imagine if we had to see them for the rest of eternity."

"I can only imagine that it would be awkward," Thailand said, smiling in sympathy. "Anyway, is China going to be alright?"

"I don't know," Afghanistan said. "We can only see the present. Sometimes the past. Future isn't possible for us."

"…It's fine. Based on the present…?"

"It's not going to be easy. His capital was attacked, after all."

Thailand winced, and he looked bothered by the news. America's expression hardened.

"All we can do at this time is warn them," America said. "Where's Liberty?"

"It might also be preferable to ask them to send Adamastor or General Winter to fetch one of us," Afghanistan said. "If they see someone that they thought dead…"

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Madagascar said. "It would alert them to our existence before we're ready to join the battle, and it might give them ideas."

Afghanistan cringed.

"You may have a point," she said. "But… well, we can't just sit here idly."

"I agree," America said. "We need to help them as soon as possible."

"You said that they can track them thanks to White South Africa," Jordan said. "What would happen if she left the group?"

"Not an option," Afghanistan said. "They leave, Israel would still be able to find her. Only she leaves, and she's vulnerable to be captured by Amodi. They plan to use her to strengthen their Bonds. Given the amount of nations in their group that had already died, they're desperate to gain some of the power back. And we wouldn't want that. Plus, dooming her to being the 'lover' of an insane Israel is _not_ something I'd wish on her."

Madagascar clenched her fists, but Jordan looked thoughtful.

"And if she leaves and joins _us_?" Jordan asked.

"It wouldn't help much," Afghanistan said. "If Israel sensed a sudden change in location from her, they would try to figure out if she's still with the group. And they have ways of doing that as well. Thanks to Romania."

"We really need to take care of their heavy hitters," America said. "The most dangerous."

"We _should_ be focusing on the most dangerous nations," Afghanistan agreed. "And we'll need to take care of their lovers as well. Before their lovers decide on revenge."

"Like Liechtenstein," Massachusetts said. "So, who should we take care of?"

"Canada is definitely a priority," Afghanistan said. "Unfortunately, he has Antarctica with him. And taking down a _continent_ would certainly be a challenge."

America winced.

"Fair point," he said. "Who else?"

"Romania is at this moment their main source of magic," Afghanistan said. "Getting rid of him would certainly be to our advantage. And if we take _him_ down, then we'll need to take Finland down as well."

"Finland's a good sniper," America said. "So we need to get him up close and personal. He could really do damage from a distance."

Afghanistan nodded.

"We can't go after Wales, because he's taking care of the next generation," she said. "Well, we _could_ kill him and then take them, but I don't think that would be the best way. I certainly wouldn't want to traumatise Stanryo."

"Who?" Pakistan asked.

"For all intents and purposes, our younger brother."

Pakistan's eyes widened, and America turned to Afghanistan again.

"What's Wales doing to them?" he asked.

"Taking care of them," Afghanistan said. "Sure, they're under the illusion that Amodi are the good guys, but all things considered, it could have been worse."

"Like?"

"…Even _we_ have to agree that Wales is a good choice to watch over them. Would you rather have Switzerland watch over them? Or Romano? Keep in mind, those are the _acceptable_ targets. They are by far not the worst."

"And we can't hurt the kids," America sighed. "Who else?"

"We're going to have to deal with Belarus, Switzerland and the two Koreas in one fell swoop. Kill one Korea, and you have to deal with the other one, as well as the lover. And considering their rage if something happens to the lover…"

"That's not going to be easy," Thailand said.

"I'm just saying," she said, shrugging. "They're not too high on the threat meter. They're soldiers, basically. And the South Americans… They should be taken care of as a matter of principle. They're the reason why none of the Latin Americans want to help out. Too many chunks missing."

"The cannibals," Madagascar said, before shuddering. "I think it _would_ be a good idea to get rid of them."

"And of course, we'd need to get rid of Italy and Poland," Afghanistan said. "I'd say that ending those two would be the easiest way to end the war."

Before anyone else could say anything, Louisiana's door opened. The state stumbled out, looking exhausted. Before she could collapse, she was caught by Black South Africa.

 **So, apparently French high school students think that honey badgers are cute. And meerkats are generally thought of as cute. However, they can be quite vicious. Rascal is the pet honey badger that attacked Wales, and tried to do the same to Israel.**

 **South Africa, of course, had Apartheid, and America had its own racial segregation laws. So, when White said that she and America were once in the same boat, she was referring to that. And Black also joined them for a drink (eventually).**

 **Dancing when angry refers to the toyi toyi, and can be seen whenever there's a protest in South Africa. I also read the joke once that South Africa is the only country whose people dance when they're angry.**

 **All of the attention that White and Brazil are receiving… who thinks that something bad is going to happen there?**


	109. Chapter 108

**Thanks to Harmony Houston, TooShyToReview, SansTheLanguage218 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 108**

No one engaged in conversation at breakfast the next day. Everyone was focused on what happened to China, and they were wondering if he was alright. At one point, he had lost consciousness and had gained a fever. The burns he received had also started bleeding.

Japan, having gone through such an attack before, was the one tending to China's wounds. No one wanted to endanger China, so they only approached if Japan asked for one of them.

With the lack of communication, it was impossible for any of them to get in touch with their governments, and thus impossible for them to send aid to China that way. The only hope was to get General Winter or Adamastor to send them to their lands so that they could do it manually. Well, the General would be less than willing, so the only hope was Adamastor.

Norway also reported that he hadn't been visited by England _at all_. Which, all things considered, was bad news. He wondered if there was something wrong, and also, they wondered what else Amodi was doing. And the nuclear threat was also heavy on their minds.

They heard a screech, and looked up to see an eagle. They recognised it as America's eagle. Russia held out his arm, and the bird landed there. Thanks to Russia's thick coat, he was the best choice to accept the eagle like this.

"Let's hope it's good news," Vietnam said.

Russia quickly read the letter attached to the eagle, and he sighed.

"Well, at least we know why we haven't heard from England," Russia said. "Between England contacting Norway and America's side reviving our fallen comrades, the gate between our world and the next is a bit unstable."

"Who wrote that?" Lebanon asked. "Can't be America."

"No, Pakistan."

"Okay, that makes more sense."

"…We don't have much of an opinion of America, do we?" Taiwan asked, giggling.

"But what they're saying makes sense," Norway said. "It was already tricky when England called me. Since performing necromancy, they would only make things more unstable. I guess it makes sense that England wouldn't come to contact me."

"They've already managed to revive Jordan, Madagascar, Afghanistan and…" Russia said, before he paused. "Black South Africa?"

"What?!" White asked, perking up. "He… He's back?"

Russia nodded.

"And apparently, he's worried about you," Russia said.

White lowered her head, but it was clear that she was relieved to hear the news.

Russia frowned at the next part.

"Apparently, Amodi is planning a large attack on us," Russia said. "They have found a way to track us."

Many nations' eyes widened, and a lot of them paled.

"When?" Netherlands asked.

"That's something they can't tell us," Russia said. "Amodi itself is only at the planning phase. Not even _they_ know when they'll attack. But… It's been decided. And nearly everyone in Amodi will join for the attack."

"We need to get out of here!" Cyprus said. "Before they get here."

Russia shook his head.

"They'd still be able to track us," he said. "We wouldn't be able to run."

"Damn," Turkey said. "So, what can we do?"

Everyone was silent for a while.

"We should ask for a list of nations that are coming," Netherlands said. "And then plan accordingly."

"We need weapons," Michoacán said.

"We haven't been able to replicate their guns," Russia said.

"Um, actually," Singapore said, "China has been looking into it. He couldn't help us build because of his leg, so he tried to help in any way he could. He knows how it works, and he took notes. The problem lies in replicating it."

"Depending on how long it would take for them to decide to attack," Japan said, "I think I might be able to make some of the weapons."

"And if we _don't_ have enough time?" Greece asked.

"Egypt told us a few of the methods that Amodi uses when killing," Turkey said. "He was trying to taunt us, but… Well, we have an idea. What we need are bladed weapons. Syria gave some to the group that went with me…"

"But there are more in Syria's house," Cyprus said. "We could go and check."

"Hopefully, Amodi didn't think to ransack the place," Lebanon said. "After all, it's their territory now."

"All the more reason to get Syria's weapons," Turkey said. "We don't want them getting their hands on Damascus steel, after all."

"Adamastor will be working hard," White sighed.

"Is there anything else in that letter?" Brazil asked.

"One last thing," Russia said. "They want to come and help us. However, America will have to deal with Liechtenstein. But the others are willing to come, and if things go wrong here and we have to move base, they have one available for us."

"But we're unable to run before the attack," Netherlands said. "They'd still be able to find us."

Russia nodded his head.

"This could also be an opportunity for us to do something about Amodi's numbers," Russia said. "They have killed many of our comrades. It's time we returned the favour. Pakistan says here that if we kill a member of Amodi, then we'd need to kill their lover as well."

"Considering what Israel was like when I took White away, I can't say I disagree," Brazil said.

"Let's not even _start_ to say what Canada was like when Egypt died," Faroe added.

"No kidding," Michoacán said. "I was the one on the receiving end of much of his rage."

"Oh, right."

"Sounds simple enough," Kazakhstan said.

"You obviously haven't seen them when their lover is in danger," Turkey muttered. "It's even worse if they're dead."

"The best choice would be to go after Poland and Italy," Russia said.

Norway nodded in agreement.

"I was told as well that that would be the fastest way to end the war," he said.

"I find it a bit hard to believe that they wouldn't be able to continue without their leaders," Netherlands said.

"But if you think in terms of the Bonds, it makes sense," Norway said. "In some way, _all_ of the Bonds are connected to them. They're the ones that allowed them to act on their hatred. They're the ones that allowed lovers to meet and get together. Even gave them the push to ignore politics in favour of pursuing romance. Severing all of the Bonds at once… It could possibly be the push we need."

"Alright," Vietnam said, "and how do we go about it?"

"Isandlwana," White said.

Everyone turned to her in confusion.

"Explain, please," Netherlands said.

"Anglo-Zulu War," White said. "The Battle of Isandlwana ended with Zulu victory. One of the things that helped Black and the Zulus was when they managed to get their hands on British firearms. So, if we _do_ manage to kill a few of Amodi's members, and they have their guns with them…"

"We can use their own weapons against them," Brazil said. "And they're probably going to have them with them."

"Makes sense," Yemen said. "Egypt had one with him, even if he settled for torturing Emirates by other means."

"They also had one with them when they attacked us," Picardy said. "They probably bring one along in case of emergencies."

"Then we better make sure they don't use it," Singapore said. "But… say we _do_ manage to get our hands on some of them. Who's a good shot? Because we're going to have to make each shot count."

"I'm pretty good," Michoacán said.

"And so am I," White said, smirking. "I'll just make extra sure that I'm channelling the days from the Boer War."

"That _would_ be a good help," Netherlands said. "Anyone else?"

"I'm not too bad," Tajikistan said.

"Alright," Russia said. "As long as we can keep them safe until the time is right, it shouldn't be a problem."

"We'd still need to get a hold of some of their weapons," Oman said. "And that would entail we kill some of them. Which isn't going to be easy."

"You're right," Norway said. "If one of them dies, then all of them would be able to sense it. And they'll react accordingly."

"Is anyone a good pickpocket?" Turkey asked, before glancing towards White.

"Don't look at me," White said. "That's more in line with Black's skillset. I only managed to convince him to teach me how to pick locks."

"I'm decent," Picardy said.

"I don't feel right about sending a region to the frontlines," Vietnam said.

"But we can't just sit here and do _nothing_ ," Madeira said. "We want to help."

"That's right," Catalonia said.

Russia shook his head.

"We don't want you to be placed in unnecessary danger," Russia said.

"I think using a pickpocket is out," Singapore said. "We're just going to have to get up close and personal."

"We can use regular guns as a distraction," Brazil said. "It should still hurt them."

Many of them nodded their heads.

"It also wouldn't hurt to fortify this place," Russia said. "We know that Amodi is coming, but we don't know _how_ they are coming. We already have an advantage, given that this is a mountain. But we shouldn't rely on that alone."

There were murmurs of agreement.

"We should get to work as soon as possible," Turkey said. "This time will be different. This time, we're prepared for their attack."

…

Finland was abruptly awoken by someone hitting him with a pillow. Hard. Finland reacted swiftly and instinctively, catching the attacker's wrists and spinning around, straddling his waist. He was about to continue the assault when he noticed that his 'attacker' was Romania, who looked up at him in annoyance.

"You drugged me," Romania said firmly.

Finland sighed, but he didn't release Romania's wrists yet. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea yet.

"It was for your own good," Finland said. "You needed your sleep. And I've got some news that would make you happy."

Romania arched his eyebrow, prompting Finland to continue.

"They managed to find a way to track our enemies," Finland said. "And in a few days' time, there will be a massive attack. It's a good opportunity to get rid of all the useless nations."

Romania narrowed his eyes.

"Are you telling me that what I've been doing the last few days is useless?!" Romania snapped.

Finland winced, understanding why Romania was annoyed. He quickly morphed his expression into a smile.

"Not quite," he said. "It's thanks to you that we know that everyone – except for America and a small group with him – is together. The nations you've listed as being present with them helped us come up with a list on who to capture and who to kill."

Romania seemed placated by this. He sighed.

"And when is this supposed to take place?" he asked.

"They haven't decided yet," Finland said. "But I received a text early – _very_ early – this morning. If we're interested in coming, then we should rendezvous at the Vatican base."

Romania nodded his head.

"Do you want to go?" he asked.

"Yes," Finland said. "And I know that you do as well. Bulgaria, Moldova and Iceland won't be able to leave, and they might actually be better behaved if they're without us for a few days. It would also be a good chance for us to unwind, and we lower the risk of accidentally hurting one of those three."

They didn't want to hurt Iceland because of his volcanoes, which could have a negative effect on all of them. Romania didn't want to hurt Moldova because he was his little brother. And Bulgaria was their trump card to keep Moldova in check, since they haven't been able to convince Moldova to actually join them. In the case of all three prisoners, it would be better to keep them unharmed.

"So, you're saying we should go together?" Romania asked.

"It would be nice, fighting alongside each other," Finland said.

Romania grinned.

"Then I don't see a reason why we shouldn't go," he said. "And Tino, you can let me go now."

Finland smirked.

"No," he said, before capturing Romania's lips in a kiss.

…

"It's good to have you back, fratello," Italy said, smirking.

Romano rolled his eyes, but there was a tender smile on his lips. As soon as he had arrived at the base, he had gone to Italy's office.

"India's not upset about you being here?" Poland asked.

"No," Romano said. "He wants me to enjoy myself. And he knows that it's been a while since I last saw my fratelli. So, has Carlino _really_ been walking on you every time?"

"Si!" Italy exclaimed. "And it's _so_ annoying! Even if we want to _flirt_ with each other, we have to lock the door first!"

Romano chuckled in amusement.

"Then I guess it's a good thing Raj didn't come along," he said. "At least _I'm_ safe."

"Lucky you," Poland remarked dryly.

"Hey, I have an idea," Italy said. "We don't we get Carlino, Marcello and Angelo, and the five of us can go out for some pasta. I know a good restaurant with an all-you-can-eat option."

Romano smirked.

"A little something as brothers," Romano said, before turning to Poland. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Poland said. "Feli could use a little time off. He's been very stressed lately. I'm worried about him."

Italy smiled gently at Poland.

"What about you?" he asked. "You need to do some relaxing as well."

"It can wait for a while," Poland said. "I've got something in mind that would remove _all_ of my stress, but I want _you_ to relax first."

"Oh brother," Romano muttered. "Maybe I should get the others, and we'll head out?"

"Si," Italy said. "That should work."

"Okay then," Romano said, before leaving the office.

…

Brazil managed to find White near the farmlands, and he watched her for a moment as she tended to the soil. They still didn't have much, and the first plants had started to sprout. It would be a while before the crops became harvestable.

"Something bothered you at the meeting, didn't it?" Brazil asked.

White jumped in surprise before turning around. Upon seeing who it was, she returned to tending to the soil.

" _I'm_ the reason why they're able to track us," White said. "Because of Israel. I'm surprised that it wasn't mentioned in the letter."

"It didn't need to be," Brazil whispered, coming to a stop next to her. "I think a lot of nations already know that Israel is on your tail. And no one is blaming you. Israel is the one to blame, because of his obsession, his unwillingness to let go…"

"…You're thinking of finishing things with Israel, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. That guy is haunting you. I want to set you free. I don't want you to keep worrying about him."

White chuckled, before shaking her head.

"It _would_ be nice," she said. "But I can't help but think that things aren't going to work out like that."

"Don't be negative," Brazil said. "Thinking that things won't work out would just jinx it, guaranteeing that something bad would happen."

White shook her head, a smile on her face.

"I wonder if Black's angry at me," she mused.

"No," Brazil said. "Remember what the letter said? He's _worried_ about you."

"Ja. And that's what makes me think that something bad is going to happen. He's a bit more relaxed than I am."

Brazil sighed, before crouching down beside her.

"I promise, I'll protect you," Brazil said. "I won't let Israel, or anyone else for that matter, hurt you."

"And who's going to protect _you_ then?" White asked.

"As long as _you're_ safe, I don't care."

…

Portugal hesitantly approached India. He hadn't failed to notice that Romano had left earlier, and he had a bad feeling about it. It looked as though Romano wouldn't be coming back for a while.

India saw his approach and arched an eyebrow. Portugal narrowed his eyes.

"Where did Romano go?" Portugal asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," India said calmly.

"He looked as though he was leaving for a while. I want to know _why_."

"And what are you going to do with the knowledge?" India taunted.

Portugal clenched his fists, but he knew that there _was_ nothing that he could do. He was in no position to help anyone. He couldn't leave, and he couldn't contact anyone. Even if he tried, there was a chance that Amodi's magic would interfere.

India saw his internal dilemma and smirked.

"Tell me, do you want to see Brazil again?" India asked. "You must be worried about him."

Portugal's eyes widened, and he paled.

"No…" he whispered.

It couldn't be… they knew where to find Brazil. And they intended to…

"You'll be reunited with your former colony soon enough," India said. "That is, if something doesn't go _wrong_."

"…What do you mean?" Portugal asked, dreading the answer.

"South Africa… The two of them are in a love triangle with Israel as the third member. Israel is one of us, and ever since Brazil stole her away… Let's just say, he hasn't been the most stable. Who knows what he's going to do to Brazil?"

"Stop it!" Portugal snapped. "Why would you tell me all of this?"

India cocked his head to the side.

"Well, we're not allowed to torture you physically, so we have to make due with torturing you emotionally," India said. "Speaking of which, how's China doing?"

Portugal stared at him in confusion, before looking down at his right hand. He had been feeling agitated the whole day, and once India called attention to it…

"Even unrequited love has its power," India said. "And you getting so emotional… Once we get our hands on Netherlands…"

"Why are you trying to get me and Netherlands together?" Portugal snapped.

"Because, the more relationships we have in our circle, the stronger we become. And the choice for you is between Netherlands and someone that two – actually _three_ – of our members want to kill. If it was Netherlands and, say, Greece, we would be working to get all three of you together. China was just unfortunate that he's a main target. But it wouldn't matter for much longer. Soon, he would be dead, and the Bonds will make sure that you don't have a choice."

 **The Battle of Isandlwana was part of the Anglo-Zulu War, and has actually been referred to as 'the most devastating defeat that a modern army had suffered at the hands of a primitive one'. The Zulus had the advantage of numbers and surprise, and as they managed to chase the British back, they eventually reached the point where they could abandon their spears in favour of the British firearms. Things went downhill for the British from there. What made this battle particularly ominous and memorable was the fact that a solar eclipse happened after the battle started.**

 **On a related note, during the Anglo-Boer War, the Boers didn't receive formal training, and the requirement was that they needed a gun and I think a horse. The Boers were expert marksmen, because they were mostly farmers, and let's just say in South Africa, foxes and coyotes aren't what we consider predators (we don't have coyotes, and foxes are pests). Farmers near my hometown are still looking for lions, after all… Not to mention that they often went hunting in those days. Germany's contribution to the war was donating some of the latest model guns. And I watched a documentary that said that even though the guns had an accuracy of up to 800 yards, the Boers could shoot a target accurately about 1200 yards away. It's a shame that that aspect died out, and didn't come into play during the World Wars. In fact, because of Germany's help, a lot of Afrikaners refused to go to war with Germany in WWII. If you want to learn more about it, look up the Ossewabrandwag.**

 **Happy New Year everyone.**


	110. Chapter 109

**Thanks to Harmony Houston and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **By some miracle, I actually managed to finish this chapter before the weekend. That was a** _ **huge**_ **relief. Friday evening I sprained my ankle really badly, and I spent the entire weekend in bed. Well, at least it doesn't look like I have an egg attached to my foot anymore. Though, this is the first time I've sprained my ankle that it's actually become bruised. Also, it doesn't look like French people are used to dealing with something like that, since everyone's asking me (without looking to see how serious it is) whether I need to go to the hospital. If there's no improvement after a week,** _ **then**_ **I'll go to the hospital to have it checked out. Seriously, this is not the first time it's happened, though it** _ **is**_ **the worst it's ever been. Another reason why I'm glad that I finished the chapter early is because I've been under the influence of painkillers the entire weekend. Pretty strong stuff.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 109**

Two days had passed since they received the news of Amodi's imminent attack, and the nations had made all of the preparations they could. They still didn't know _when_ the attack would come.

Japan sighed as he changed China's bandages. The wounds had thankfully stopped bleeding, but they still looked extremely painful. It didn't help that China had yet to regain consciousness. His temperature had to be monitored at all times, since he had constant fevers.

Japan also had to constantly check China's heartbeat. Since the attack had struck China's capital, his heart was affected. And because it was his heart that was affected, there was a large risk to China. To Yao Wang.

It was also a sign that one of their plans wasn't working. They were supposed to disconnect themselves from their countries. The idea was to be separate from their lands. So that, in case of an attack or something, they wouldn't suffer from the damages done to their land. This attack showed that it wasn't working.

Of course, there was the possibility that it wasn't as simple as they thought it would be. Perhaps there was something else that Amodi used. Or perhaps…

Perhaps Amodi was bluffing about damage to their countries not affecting them. After all, the ones that told them were nations of Amodi. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that they were simply bluffing to discourage their enemies from attacking their people, cities or other important areas.

Japan needed to ask Norway about that, as soon as he had finished tending to China's wounds.

There was one other thing that he noticed: China's wounds weren't as severe as they should be. So maybe it was possible that it worked to an extent, but they still didn't have Amodi's expertise.

There were far too many questions. And it made Japan feel like an idiot. How long had he been around? He was over two thousand years old. And yet, it was brought to his attention every time the subject of Amodi came up that he knew so very little about the nature of nations. How was it possible for them to still have questions about themselves?

And it irked him that the nations of Amodi knew so much. Italy, Poland, North and South Korea, Switzerland… _all_ of them. How did they learn so much, when even those older than them were at a loss?

With a pang, Japan realised the answer to that question: war. Italy and Poland had planned this for a long time. Centuries, in fact. And all of their wars were arranged. The conflict between North and South Korea, for example. It was probably even easier when they went against their fellow members. It meant that they could collaborate together. On that note, how many wars _did_ they 'fight' together?

It should have been harder with nations that weren't in on their plans. But when Japan thought of Italy during the Second World War, he couldn't get the image of the nation always waving a white flag out of his head. Poland was also very underwhelming. And now, the two of them were the masterminds behind what could possibly be the most devastating war that the nations had ever faced.

Actually, no. It _was_ the worst war that the nations had ever faced. The humans might not see it like that, since the attacks made to them were kept to a minimum on both sides. But instead, many nations had fallen. There had never been a war where so many nations had died. Perhaps one or two would die in some wars, and some would fade away as a result of a war. But never had so many nations actively been killed.

Throughout their wars, they knew that it was never personal. Okay, it was sometimes personal. But most of the time, nations were acting under the orders of their bosses. But perhaps they should have made more of an effort to mend bridges after a skirmish. Human rulers came and went, but the nations would be there for a long time. They would have to see each other after everything was said and done.

Japan thought back to the two Koreas. Their reasons for joining Amodi… one of them was the way that Japan had treated them during World War Two. And while Japan tried to justify it – that he was under the orders of his boss – he knew that there was no reason why he _had_ to act like that. He knew that he didn't _have_ to obey his boss to the letter.

He turned to the unconscious China. He knew that in the last World War, he had done many horrible things to China and his people. And for what? And he knew that he couldn't justify his actions. There was no reason to turn an invasion into a massacre. Especially like the one that China had to suffer through.

He sighed when he realised that he had figured out one of Amodi's schemes. Amodi made it clear that they weren't acting under the orders of their bosses. The human rulers were nothing more than figureheads. Amodi… They acknowledged responsibility for their actions. And in some twisted way, they were punishing the other nations for hiding behind that excuse for millennia. Because they realised that not all of what they did was under the orders of their bosses. And even so, they hated them for following the orders.

Japan knew that it wasn't the case with all of Amodi's nations. But those that had a grudge against someone else… It wasn't too hard to understand where they had come from. And from what Japan understood of Norway's explanations about Amodi's Bonds, the ribbons seemed to have a power reminiscent of mind control. Which meant that they took nations who were in an emotionally vulnerable state, and twisted them to their will.

Like what they did to Greece. They had tried to brainwash him without adding him to their group. Which begged the question of how they even learned how to perfect their techniques.

The same could be said about what happened to Serbia. And unfortunately, they _did_ have an answer for that one. It was made perfectly clear that Quebec was the only region of Amodi still alive.

Japan shook his head, looking down at China, looking pale and breathing sounding pained. Even though the other nations might have driven them to it, it didn't change the fact that Amodi had done some equally horrible acts. Some even worse. Because most of the things that nations did were to the people of the other nations. Almost everything that Amodi did was to the nations themselves. They didn't simply kill, they tortured before killing. Turkey had repeated all of the methods that Egypt had listed that Amodi used, and it was clear that they favoured the slow way of dealing with their fellow nations. They were unnecessarily cruel.

He was no stranger to cruelty. He was an empire once as well. And it seemed as though empires had an instinct of being cruel. He had done things in his empire days that he had come to regret. However, that was not the case with Amodi.

Empires tended to make life miserable for the people of the nations they had under their control, while reminding the nations that they were no more than their servants. Amodi tended to remind the prisoners that they were prisoners, but they didn't do anything to harm the nations kept as prisoners. They might go for some psychological torture, but nothing too serious. And both White and Brazil reported that their people were treated well, and that Amodi had actually made the effort to fix their countries' problems.

It somehow made Amodi's actions even worse.

Japan didn't know what Amodi planned to do, once all of their opposition was destroyed and they actually managed to conquer the world. On one hand, what they were doing for the people of the nations they've conquered wasn't bad. On the other, Amodi was filled with sadists. What would they do if there was no one left for them to hurt?

The number of nations they kept as their prisoners came to mind, and he shuddered. The thought of those sadists using _them_ to alleviate their boredom didn't sit well with Japan, but there was nothing else that came to mind, and in fact, was something that made the most sense.

There was a knock at the door, making Japan jump. He turned to see Vietnam standing there, looking concerned.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Hai," he said. "China has yet to wake up, but…"

"Not with China, with _you_. You looked as though you were in a daze."

"Sorry. I was just lost in thought."

"What's on your mind?"

Japan was quiet for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts.

"You remember that North and South Korea were pushed towards Amodi due to the way I treated them in World War Two?" Japan asked.

"That's what they claimed," Vietnam said, nodding her head.

"…I know that the way I acted back then was wrong. I treated everyone under my control wrongly. And I never did anything to atone for it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Vietnam scoffed. "You…"

"I don't mean the country. I mean the nation. I did nothing to show that I was sorry. And I know that there was no reason for me to act the way I did. Saying that I acted under the orders of my emperor… That's incorrect. There was no reason for me to do the things I did. There was no reason for me to hurt any of you. And it was those actions that pushed North and South Korea to join Amodi. And I… I even offered them the opportunity. Italy was supposed to be my ally during that time, so… He came over, quite often, actually, and he could have easily gotten them to join them. They were vulnerable, and Italy took advantage of that."

"Perhaps," Vietnam said. "But you're not the only nation that had done things like that. All of us have done our fair share of horrible actions. Amodi's using it as an excuse to justify what they're doing. To justify 'punishing' us."

"But they're not wrong. Think back to the world meetings. How many times did they fall into chaos? And how many times did someone mention something that happened in the past? We live for centuries. We've seen many wars. We've seen many war crimes. And how many times do we apologise for them? How many times do we accept responsibility? Amodi actually sees things as they are: that it's personal. Doing things under our bosses' orders… How many times have we used that excuse?"

Vietnam sighed, closing her eyes and lowering her head. Japan understood that she recognised what he was saying as containing truth.

"We're no better than them," Japan said. "They're just honest about what they're doing. And they're actively trying to keep our people's death toll low, at least in most cases. How many of us can say the same thing?"

"You're right," Vietnam whispered. "It doesn't mean that Amodi's right, but… Perhaps, if we treated each other better, we wouldn't be having this war."

Japan nodded.

"I'm sorry about my actions as Imperial Japan," Japan said. "I'm sorry about the way I treated your people. And I'm sorry about the way I treated you."

Vietnam gave a soft smile, squeezing his hand.

"I'm sorry for my actions in the past as well," Vietnam said. "But for now, we shouldn't dwell on the past. We need to focus on the present, and hopefully we'll have a future."

"Hai," Japan said. "Hopefully, we end the war. And hopefully, we survive the end."

…

"Something on your mind?"

Black looked behind him, seeing Madagascar approaching. She sat down beside him.

"I'm still worried about White," Black said. "I hope that she and Brazil will be safe."

"We all know what Israel would be capable of," Madagascar said. "Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that."

Black nodded his head, before his hand absently made its way to the location of the bullet wound. Madagascar grabbed his wrist, and it was only then that he realised what he was doing.

"Sorry," he said.

"You're not the only one."

Black didn't need to turn to know who it was. Ever since his own revival, two others had been revived: France and Germany. It was France that had spoken.

France sat down next to him, and to his surprise, the other revived nations joined them. It was very late at night, and the still-living nations (and states) were asleep. But due to their nature, they had no need for sleep.

"It's not hard to remember the last thing that happened before you died," Germany sighed. "Those last moments haunt you."

"I agree," France said. "It's as though you're trying to figure out how it could have changed."

"You also can't forget the thing that led to your death," Jordan said, hand reaching towards her own bullet wound.

"In the afterlife, it was as though it didn't matter," Afghanistan said. "But, back in these damaged… _shells_ , we can't get rid of our past. And we just…"

"We want to escape from this reality," Madagascar said.

France sighed.

"It's important that they don't hear us speaking like this," France said. "They would feel guilty, and it could interfere with our plans."

"We want to end this war," Germany said. "The war that robbed us of our lives. And that would rob more nations of _their_ lives. The balance of power is shaky, and we need to return it to its previous state."

"Until then, we can't rest in peace," Afghanistan said.

"We're only here to end the war," Black said. "And we have to make sure that our fellow nations don't join us. At least, not for a long time."

"We especially don't want to see our friends and family there," Jordan said. "They still have things to do."

"Our lives were robbed from us," Madagascar said. "But that means that change can come to the world. And we need someone to help the change."

"And we also need to pass on the message," Germany said. "That they need to let go. This world might go up in flames…"

"But from the ashes, a new world will rise," France said. "Like the phoenix."

"We just need to make sure that the nations of the new world wouldn't make the mistakes of the past," Black said.

…

"It's a bit unfortunate that we had to kill everyone here," Philippines said.

"It was necessary," South said dismissively. "At least now, no one will interfere."

Philippines and the Koreas had joined Israel. And when the local people had started becoming inquisitive, the nations decided that it would be better to get rid of everyone that could possibly interfere.

"It doesn't matter," North said. "We would have had to kill them all eventually."

"A shame," Israel said casually. "They were good hosts."

"They were humans," South said. "Their lives would have been snuffed out eventually anyway."

"True," North said. "So, any idea when the others are coming?"

"No idea," Israel said. "But it needs to be soon. I'm getting anxious."

…

Samoa struggled in his bonds, staring up with wide eyes at his two attackers. Chile and Venezuela. He had never been so scared of anyone in his life. And it had already been going on for more than a day.

Venezuela smiled brightly, and it made Samoa grow more worried.

"I'm starting to get hungry," Venezuela said, turning to Chile. "What about you?"

Chile nodded, and Samoa's eyes widened. He screamed into the gag, but there was nothing that he could do to stop them creating yet another incision, and cut out a part of him. Samoa looked with watery eyes at the spongy object in Venezuela's hand.

"Cooked or raw?" Venezuela asked.

"Cooked," Chile said. "I want him to smell how delicious he is."

Samoa felt a wave of disgust, and he could taste the bile at the back of his throat. He wished that they would just kill him and get it over with.

…

"Is this it?" Ethiopia asked.

As Canada had instructed, Ethiopia had gone to find Egypt's pets. At the moment, the jackal and falcon looked like the depictions of their namesakes: Horus and Anubis. Thinking about it, Ethiopia wondered if perhaps they _were_ the Ancient Egyptian gods.

Anubis grunted, before approaching the door. It was a tomb that the deserts had hidden for eons. Ethiopia knew that there was a good reason for it, and he still wanted to be anywhere but there. But he didn't want to anger Canada.

Ethiopia watched as the two human-animal hybrids opened the doors, and he shuddered. Suddenly, it was as though the temperature had dropped dramatically, becoming extremely cold. And considering where he was, that was an impressive feat.

He could see more doors, completely covered in hieroglyphs. He wouldn't pretend that he could read it. But he supposed that they contained warnings about entering, and that trespassers would come to regret entering this place. Something that was actually typical of Ancient Egypt's tombs.

The difference was, this time, the warnings were completely legitimate, and something truly horrible _was_ lurking within these walls.

Anubis and Horus turned to look at him, and Ethiopia recognised it as a request to follow them. He sighed, not wanting to go into the tomb, but knowing that he had no choice.

As soon as he entered, he wrapped his arms around himself, feeling goosebumps all over his body. It was _far_ too cold. The doors he had seen earlier were opened, and that only opened up a set of stairs that would undoubtedly lead to a labyrinth.

If the _regular_ tombs were like that, then he shuddered to think what _this_ one would be like. And there was no light source. He had to rely on Egypt's pets.

Taking a deep breath, he took another step into the darkness.

 **There's quite a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter.**

 **When I first mentioned Samoa, I said that he was tall, but I didn't give the explanation. Let's just say, I used to watch a** _ **lot**_ **of Lilo and Stitch.**

 **The last part might also be an allusion to another story I've started and want to work on,** _ **The Curse of Ancient Egypt**_ **. And on that note, are there any other stories you'd like me to work on? Summaries are on my profile.**


	111. Chapter 110

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, Harmony Houston, Eternal Nexus Warrior, Cactus, Elsa, eldwist, PikaPika68 and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 110**

"Perhaps we should go tonight," Poland suggested. "We can rest up in the village Israel found, and then we can make the final arrangements."

"Everyone's here," Italy said thoughtfully. "It shouldn't be a problem to go tonight. North Korea sent us the coordinates, so we should be able to find them without problem."

"We'll have to check with Romania again about what the place looks like. Do you think he would be able to do it now?"

"Perhaps we should ask him."

"I'll do that."

…

"Hey," Slovenia said, sitting down next to Serbia. "How are you feeling?"

Serbia looked up at his brother before staring blankly in front of him again. Slovenia sat down next to him, throwing his arm around Serbia's shoulder.

"Please," Slovenia said. "I… I want to know what's on your mind."

"Why?" Serbia asked blankly.

"You were so happy a few days ago. I want you to be happy again."

Serbia's shoulders slumped.

"I don't know how to feel anymore," Serbia said. "It's going back and forth. But I'm afraid of the nothingness. I've actually felt _nothing_. And I'm afraid of feeling that again. Or should I say, _not_ feeling again."

"That won't happen," Slovenia said. "After all, it's not like it just happened. Romania did that to you. But you got better."

Serbia shook his head.

"I keep having nightmares about what happened to the others," Serbia said. "But I feel _nothing_. We were family, and I felt _nothing_. I feel so disgusted with myself. I don't feel… real, you know?"

Slovenia sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"I feel guilty too," Slovenia said. "I saw it happening, and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"At least you protested," Serbia said. "Me: I stared blankly, not caring, and some part of me _knew_ what was going on, but it didn't matter. At all. That's the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. And I feel _so_ guilty about it. And I had no idea how the others felt about it."

"About you not reacting as they were tortured and killed?" Slovenia asked.

Serbia flinched, curling in on himself. Slovenia sighed.

"I knew that it was a trap," Slovenia said. "But I went in anyway. I was thinking that I couldn't let you think that I abandoned you. And I was hoping for some way that we would be saved. But then Romania told me that there was no reason to kill you, and that he would need someone to take care of you until you recovered. And that would be me. I was feeling helpless and pathetic. But above all, I was worried about _you_. And I think the others were as well. Didn't they say anything about the state _you_ were in?"

Serbia closed his eyes, but he nodded.

"That's one of the things that's killing me," Serbia whispered. "The fact that I didn't return their sentiments."

"You didn't have to," Slovenia said. "I kept thinking that there had to be some way to get back at Romania for what he did."

Serbia heaved a dry sob.

"You can't possibly be okay with me being like that," Serbia said. "Especially while they were being tortured and killed."

"It wasn't your fault," Slovenia said again.

"Even when… Even when I a-ate Herzegovina's h-heart?"

Slovenia flinched. He had forgotten about it. And all things considered… It wasn't surprising that _that_ one haunted Serbia.

"It _wasn't_ your fault," Slovenia said. "You… You had no control of yourself. You… you looked _dead_. You can't be held responsible. It's all Romania's fault. _He_ was the one that did all of that to you. _He_ was the one that made you… That made you do _that_. _He's_ the one that killed the others. So please… Don't blame yourself, or hate yourself. Save it for when we see Romania again, alright?"

During his spiel, Slovenia couldn't prevent the tears from falling. Serbia seemed to be transfixed by them, and even though it was humiliating for Slovenia, he had a feeling that it helped his brother get the message. Serbia averted his gaze after a while.

"I know you're right," Serbia said. "But I can't forget what happened. It keeps haunting me. And I… I remember Antarctica as well. When he realised who we are… I'm afraid that there's more to come."

Slovenia swallowed nervously. He couldn't just tell Serbia that Romania's plan was for Serbia to recover, and the trauma would provoke Serbia into committing suicide. Slovenia couldn't tell Serbia that the whole point of this was for him to kill himself. There was no way that he could say something like that.

He also didn't know how Serbia would react to the revelation. His reactions were still a bit unpredictable. Several aspects of his personality were still a bit out of his reach. Anything could set him off in ways that they couldn't predict.

"We just can't allow Romania to get the chance then," Slovenia said. "We'll do everything we can to make sure that he's dealt with once and for all. He won't hurt you, me, or _anyone_ else ever again."

Serbia gave a small smile, before he wiped some of Slovenia's tears away.

"I'm surprised you're not embarrassed by these," Serbia said.

"Oh, I am," Slovenia said, averting his eyes. "The last thing I wanted was for you to see me weak."

"You're not weak. You just showed me that you actually _do_ care."

…

Romania stared blankly at Poland. Finland glared slightly, arm wrapped protectively around Romania's shoulder.

"You want me to do _what_?" Romania asked.

"Use that magic one last time," Poland said. "But just to gather information. You won't attack or anything. We just need to know as much about the place where they're staying as possible."

"I can tell you what I remember," Romania said firmly. "Using astral projection isn't possible at this point in time."

Poland sighed.

"Alright then," he said. "Tell me what you remember then."

"It's not underground or anything," Romania said. "In fact, it looks as though they're still busy building the place. A village, in fact. There was one building that looked as though it had been there for a long time. So maybe the place _was_ a village at one point."

"Alright, so it's out in the open," Poland mused. "They wouldn't do something like that unless there was _something_ protecting them."

"Judging by the air, and perhaps by shadows I've seen, the place might be a mountainous region. A plateau."

"A mountain? And what do you mean, 'shadows'?"

Romania huffed in annoyance.

"I went there at night," Romania said. "Do you _honestly_ expect me to be able to see _that_ well? Especially without any illumination? They didn't have a fire or anything, and if the place is indeed in China, then I'm not surprised by the lack of starlight."

Poland took a deep, calming breath.

"…You have a point," Poland said. "Anything else?"

Romania frowned, before he shook his head.

"That's all I can tell," Romania said. "And you already know about everyone who's there."

"Tak, you're right," Poland said. "At least we know that it's a mountainous area, which means that our best bet is to go by air. Do they have any vehicles?"

"Just a couple of cars. Not enough to take all of them at once."

"Okay, so they won't be able to escape. But since they have cars there, that means that they _should_ have a road then. But we wouldn't be able to go through the road. And how sturdy do you think the buildings are?"

Romania rolled his eyes.

"They're still building," he said. "But they managed to get some temporary shelters. Ever been to a squatter camp?"

"…In other words, their buildings aren't going to offer them any protection," Poland said. "Would Norway be able to warn them?"

"Last time I went, I locked Norway inside his dream," Romania said. "Odds are low that he would have escaped. Especially without a link to his country. I'm sorry, _former_ country."

Finland actually smirked at this.

"So then, hopefully they wouldn't be informed of our imminent attack," Poland said. "If we're lucky, we can catch them completely by surprise. But we need to account for the alternative. So, do you think their buildings would make good shelters?"

"I highly doubt that," Romania said.

"Good. But we still need to make sure. And we need you to check on that."

"No," Finland said firmly. "You don't know the state he was in every time he finished with it. There were several times when he almost snapped. I don't want to see him like that."

Poland sighed.

"It's Vlad's choice," Poland said.

Romania bit his lip, looking between Finland and Poland. He was clearly contemplating the request, but also the possible effects.

"I can go."

All three of them snapped their attention to the door, where they saw Belarus standing.

"What did you say?" Romania asked.

"I may not have magic as strong as yours, but I can still contact the dead, and I am still a fortune teller," Belarus said. "I think I can handle astral projection."

Romania smiled in relief, before nodding his head.

"Alright then," he said. "Have you ever done it before?"

"No," Belarus said.

"Then I'll walk you through it."

Finland shot his own, grateful smile towards Belarus, and Poland observed his allies closely. He didn't really care who did it, as long as it could be done.

…

Quebec wandered off by himself. He wanted to be alone for a while. He had spent so many years on his own, and it was nice to have people caring about him, but he needed to think a little.

Canada wouldn't be coming. That was the good news. Canada wasn't joining the attack. Quebec wouldn't have to see Canada in the immediate future. He was happy about it.

However, he knew that he no longer had any use for Canada, and the nation had tried to get Tokyo to kill him. And Romania had attacked twice, but Quebec was still alive. It scared him a little. Did Canada want to kill him personally? If so, then why let Tokyo try that time? What were they planning?

He knew that he was probably being ridiculous. Canada didn't care about him, and neither did the rest of Amodi. He was just a loose end, one that they couldn't be bothered with. He didn't know any of their secrets (except for the fates of some of the other regions), and what could constitute as 'secrets' were no longer secret. Not since the war broke out and everyone found out about Amodi's façade.

But even if he knew that, he couldn't help but be worried. He knew Canada better than anyone. Regardless of whether or not he could be bothered, he knew that Canada would hold responsibility for him. He would want to finish what he started. And Quebec had the feeling that during their attack, he would be one of the victims. Because there was a chance that Amodi would aim specifically for him.

Quebec sat down and wrapped his arms around himself, trembling violently. He recalled all of the times when Canada had come to see him. Had come to tell him about whatever it was that he had done to one of the others.

Warnings. Quebec's purpose had been to create an image of unrest in the country of Canada, to throw off suspicion. But Canada had made it clear that if Quebec no longer had any use, then he would join his fellow provinces. And for a time, it didn't seem so bad. He had given up on life. On freedom. He hadn't received nourishment for decades, his voice had failed him, his body had deteriorated to the point where a corpse might be considered healthier… There was a time when he thought that dying would be better than living.

And then Canada needed him for something. He was supposed to divert the attention off Tokyo… Only for Amodi's enemies to learn of Tokyo's true allegiance. And when the time came for Tokyo to try to kill him, Quebec had moved away. It was the first time in decades that he experienced the will to live. Because of Madeira, Catalonia, Isle of Man, Greenland, Gibraltar… They showed him kindness for the first time in his life. And he… He wanted to live.

That desire only grew stronger with time. He knew that, if given the opportunity, Canada – or perhaps someone else from Amodi – would try to kill him again. And he didn't want that. He grew afraid.

He… he wanted to live. But if he stayed and fought… There was a chance that he would die. And he knew that everything would be wasted.

…

Belarus looked around. This all felt a little surreal. But she could tell that it had worked.

She found herself among the enemies, but they did not react to her presence. She had needed Romania's help to get here, but she had managed. And now she could spy on them without problems.

She saw Slovenia and Serbia having a conversation, and she knew that Romania would want to deal with them. She also saw Quebec wandering off on his own. She also saw other regions, and her focus shifted to one in particular.

She had seen pictures of her. She knew who it was. Madeira. Someone who had managed to escape from their soldiers. Of course, they probably shouldn't have sent the humans to do a nation's job.

One other person to try to get Portugal under control. And where was…?

She caught sight of Brazil, flirting with White. She arched an eyebrow. Israel would _not_ be happy about it. But it seemed as though the South African indulged him, but didn't really respond. So then, perhaps she wasn't interested. Netherlands was hovering nearby, watching the duo. Perhaps they could use White to get Netherlands.

She turned her attention to see Russia, and latching onto him was someone she recognised: Vilnius. Someone that was nothing more than an annoyance. And she could make things difficult for Baltia. Vilnius's territory was part of Baltia's, and her thoughts could influence the young nation. She would need to be dealt with.

She took in all of the nations there, before deciding that she would do well to examine her surroundings. As Romania had said, it appeared to be mountainous, and there were some buildings still under construction, and some… It couldn't really be called buildings. But she supposed if they were only supposed to be temporary structures, they would do. But it wouldn't offer a lot of protection. But it was still possible for them to retreat into the buildings when the time came, and depending on whether or not they had firearms, things could prove painful.

Well, it wouldn't matter much. They didn't have Amodi's firearms, for starters. So even if they _did_ have normal guns, it wouldn't do much damage.

She focused her attention on the only building that looked as though it was stable and that it had been there for a while. She walked over there, wanting to see what the others used it for. But then she paused.

Norway was coming towards her, and as he passed, she noticed him shuddering. Her eyes narrowed as he looked towards her direction, and even though it didn't appear as though he could see her, it was obvious that he could sense her. And that was a problem.

She quickly made her way inside the main building, wondering what Norway might do. She needed to gather this one last piece of information.

And she did. This was the place where China was. And Japan was nursing China. She smirked. North would _love_ to hear about this.

Closing her eyes, she decided that it would be a lot better if she returned immediately.

…

Norway could sense something. He wasn't sure what it was, only that it was a presence that had no business being there.

He tried to reach out, clutching the diamond in his hand and drawing on the gem's power. He frowned when he lost the presence.

Could it be Amodi? Was it possible that Romania had tried a different tactic? Or was it someone else entirely? Looking around, it didn't seem too suspicious. As long as no one was discussing their preparations, they should be fine. And as long as the intruder hadn't seen the weapons they had gathered, things should be fine as well.

…

Russia took Vilnius aside, and he sat down on the ground. It would be a lot more comfortable than crouching, and he had a feeling that this conversation would last a while.

"I want you to leave," Russia said. "You need to get to safety, little one."

Vilnius shook her head, and Russia sighed. Even though Lithuania had been scared of him, which sometimes annoyed Russia, the nation would have obeyed his order, while the capital was being stubborn.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Russia said. "You didn't see what they did to your brother…"

"I did," Vilnius interrupted. "That's why I decided to find _you_."

Russia's eyes widened in horror. This little girl… had seen the state her brother's corpse had been left in. Russia closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Russia said. "You need to agree to go to safety."

"And where would _that_ be?" Vilnius asked.

"…With America. I'll ask General Winter to take you."

"No! Please, I want to stay with you. I want to fight too."

"No, little one. It's best for you to be where you could be safe."

…

Belarus returned to her senses, and she immediately felt a wave of dizziness. She groaned, looking around. How could she feel as though she was about to keel over when she was already lying down? Romania had gained her respect.

Shaking her head, she saw Romania nearby. He arched an eyebrow.

"Something bothering you?" Romania asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I thought you said that Norway was trapped in a dream."


	112. Chapter 111

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, Eternal Nexus Warrior, eldwist, Harmony Houston, SansTheLanguage218 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 111**

Romania stared at her blankly, and Belarus stared at him evenly. Eventually, his eyes narrowed.

"He was _supposed_ to be locked in a dream," he said. "How… How could he have escaped?"

"I don't know," she said. "But he did. And he's wandering around with the others."

"Which means there's a chance that he could have warned them about our impending attack."

"But they didn't relocate. If they knew that we were planning an attack, wouldn't they try to get to a safe place?"

Romania frowned, pondering what she had said.

"That _would_ be the natural reaction," Romania said. "But I suppose that we can discuss it later. Come on. Poland would probably want to hear what you've seen."

…

"Where could he have disappeared to?" Gibraltar asked.

"That's what we need to figure out," Isle of Man said. "We need to find him soon."

They had noticed that Quebec had disappeared, and they, along with Catalonia, Madeira, Cornwall, Picardy and the remaining Channel Islands, had gone to look for him. Everyone had split up into pairs, and Gibraltar and Isle of Man had chosen to go to the nearby forest.

They were all worried about him. Quebec was still rather frail, and they knew that he was worried about the attack from Amodi. His own nation wanted him dead, and the others could only imagine the fear that he must have felt. Knowing that Amodi would come, and even if Canada wasn't going to appear, there was still a chance for them to execute Quebec, or take him to Canada to be executed by him. And he must have been terrified about it.

"Why would he have gone off on his own?" Gibraltar huffed.

"We can ask him when we find him," Isle of Man said. "Now, let's focus on doing _that_."

Gibraltar shot a glare at the other, but stopped when she noticed the concern in the other's gaze. She was only being snappy because she was worried about Quebec. In his delicate condition…

All of the females of the group knew what was going on with them. At first, they only had a motherly sort of concern for the abused province, but then came a time when they started to really like him. He was so… _innocent_. Especially if one took into account the fact that he had French blood. And whenever he would give his hesitant smiles…

He was just too cute for them to resist. And as more of the damage faded away, more of his personality became revealed. And they loved him for it. They also felt an immense bubble of happiness that their efforts were not in vain. That he was recovering, and actually developed a personality. They also tried to ignore the jealousy of the males of their group.

They weren't expecting much from him, though. He was oblivious to love, and it was understandable. After all, he had experienced nothing but cruelty since he was born, and it had taken him a while to get used to kindness. Love was not within his reach. But it was alright. If they all managed to survive, they would see where fate took them.

"Quebec!" Isle of Man exclaimed, darting forward.

Gibraltar followed after her, and she was alarmed to see Quebec curled up against a tree, his body trembling slightly. He looked up with tired eyes, and he gave them a tired smile.

"Why did you run off like that?" Gibraltar admonished.

"Désolé," he said. "I just needed some time on my own."

"You could at least have told us," Isle of Man huffed. "We were worried about you. We didn't know where you were."

"Sorry," he said. "It's just… I'm afraid."

"Of Amodi?" Gibraltar asked.

Quebec nodded his head.

"Everyone is prepared for the battle," Quebec said. "But… I know I can't fight. I can't even lift a brick. And I know that Canada and his friends will kill me once they see me. I will be useless to everyone. Others would have to protect me, and they will lose their lives. Because of me."

The two females exchanged a look. They knew that Quebec wouldn't be able to join the fighting. He was still recovering, even if he _was_ making progress. And they didn't want him to be in any danger.

"Perhaps we should discuss it with the nations," Isle of Man said. "There must be others who feel as though they wouldn't be able to fight. Take China, for example. The Asians would want to get him away from here and towards safety. What good is preparing for a battle if some of the participants would only be a hindrance?"

Quebec flinched, and Isle of Man turned an apologetic smile to him.

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad," she said.

"It's the truth," he said.

The two females looked towards each other and sighed.

"Come on," Gibraltar said, helping him to his feet. "We'll discuss it with the nations, and we'll see what they think."

He nodded his head, and they made their way back to camp. It wouldn't be long before the other regions made their way back.

…

"So, Norway somehow managed to escape what you've done to him," Poland said.

"It seems so," Romania said. "I wonder if it's because of those magical creatures that I have yet to learn more of."

"That means that they might already know about what we're planning."

"It's possible," Belarus said. "They didn't seem as though they were scrambling around, but I noticed that they were far graver than people who think that they are safe should be."

"Which means, if they _do_ know, then they're prepared to face us," Poland said. "Or at least, they _think_ they're prepared."

"If they know that we're coming and decide to relocate, it wouldn't help them much," Romania said. "Israel would be able to find South Africa again."

"And what are the odds of _them_ knowing that?"

"If they did, then I don't see why they didn't leave her alone there while the rest of them fled," Belarus said. "Or, why they don't send her off."

"Either they don't know, or they have no intentions of doing that," Romania said. "I can imagine that Brazil and Netherlands would be against the idea."

"Fair enough," Poland said.

"I also managed to see China," Belarus said. "He's not in a good condition. Easy prey for the Koreas. Japan seems to be the one to treat his injuries."

"The Koreas would _definitely_ see that as a good thing," Poland mused. "Well then. I'll go have a word with Feliciano, and we'll probably have a meeting later."

…

Azores was pacing nervously. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He figured that it had something to do with his twin, Madeira. He couldn't help but get the feeling that she was in danger.

And with Romano gone…

He wondered if the two things were connected. Romano had left, and India refused to tell them where he had gone. Of course, the only one who could safely ask was Portugal, but no answer was given. It made all of them grow worried.

But Azores had a bad feeling that he might see his sister soon.

…

Ethiopia followed after Anubis and Horus. He wished that there was light, but whenever he took out his flashlight, Anubis would growl at him and he would be forced to put it away again. He didn't like walking around in the darkness in a most-certainly boobytrapped tomb. It was only with Anubis and Horus's help that he managed to make it as far as he could.

But then, to his surprise, the walls started lighting up. He had expected to see a golden colour (he would never have admitted to Egypt that he liked watching those mummy-movies), but instead the walls were glowing red. There was nothing written or painted on the walls, and yet he could feel as though a very clear message was being said.

Horus and Anubis didn't react, and Ethiopia had no choice but to follow after them. He was amazed, and not for the first time, by the way these two were able to find their way in the dark.

They led him to a door, and the two stepped back.

"Is this it?" he asked, to which they nodded. "Are you going to open it, or should I?"

Anubis grabbed his hand, and he allowed the jackal to cut the palm with its claw, before forcing him to place the palm flat on the door. He watched dully as the door opened, and Horus nudged him inside.

He had a _bad_ feeling about this, and he was going to insist that Canada compensate him properly for this, regardless of how unhinged the North American was.

He took a few steps before wrapping his arms around himself. How in the world was it possible for this place to be colder than _Canada_?

" _A nation_ ," a voice hissed, making Ethiopia pause. " _It's been a long time since I've seen a nation. But you're not the one from this land. You're neither Khemet, nor the one that replaced her._ "

"I-I'm Ethiopia," he said. "I used to be an ally of the nation whose land we're in, but he died. I'm here on behalf of his lover."

" _Oh really? And what does this 'lover' want?_ "

"He didn't give me the details, but he said that if you wish to learn more, then all you need to do is follow the link. He has inherited Egypt's land, and you _should_ be able to follow him."

" _And if I don't want to?_ "

The voice had grown playful, but it was still laced in menace. Ethiopia sighed, before revealing the ribbons around his left hand.

"You're familiar with these Bonds, correct?" Ethiopia asked.

The voice chuckled.

" _My, so much hatred. And such_ strong _hatred. I'm impressed._ "

"A lot of this belongs to Canada, Egypt's lover," Ethiopia said. "I am currently a means for him to act out on his hatred."

He could feel the ribbons move, and some of the black ribbons started to glow. Almost as though the owner of the voice was examining them.

"Canada loved Egypt, and their Bonds of love were equally strong," Ethiopia continued. "Without his lover, Canada has become unhinged, and he desires nothing more than absolute destruction."

" _And why send_ you _here?_ "

Ethiopia paused. Why _did_ Canada send him here?

" _Did_ _Egypt tell you about me?_ " the voice asked, to which Ethiopia nodded. " _Did he also mention that for my… services, I require a sacrifice of land?_ "

Ethiopia's eyes widened, before he narrowed his eyes.

"Damn Canuck," he muttered.

"…You _are not wanted. You said that I can follow the link? Well then, perhaps I shall._ "

Immediately afterwards, the temperature increased, and Ethiopia felt irked. The owner of the voice was gone. He pulled out his phone, not caring about procedure or anything, and he called Canada.

"…What is it, Ethiopia?" Canada asked in a bored tone.

"You sent me as a sacrificial lamb!" Ethiopia snapped.

"Oh, so you figured it out. Gupta told me about it, in case of emergency."

"And you decided to send _me_?! I'm your ally!"

"Which is why I would have kept him from consuming all your energy. I also thought that you would have preferred to be _useful_ in this war, instead of a mere babysitter."

Ethiopia flushed in anger.

"You… I guess I should be happy that he wasn't interested in me."

"…What?"

"I mentioned that he could find you if he follows the link between you and Egypt. He said something about doing just that."

There was silence for a while, before the line went dead. Ethiopia cursed, before he stormed out of the chamber. When he got hold of that Canadian…

…

"So, I think Quebec should go somewhere safe," Isle of Man said.

The regions had gone to discuss it with Russia, who acted as one of their leaders. Russia nodded his head, before glancing towards Quebec with a smile.

"I agree," Russia said. "He is not yet ready to fight. And the timing is quite fortunate. I was thinking of sending Vilnius to America's group for her own safety."

"So, you don't have a problem with this?" Catalonia asked.

"As long as he takes care of Vilnius, I don't mind."

Quebec glanced towards the capital, who for once didn't look nervous around others, but was pouting. It was clear that she _wanted_ to be part of the battle, but Russia wouldn't allow her.

"Perhaps we should gather everyone and hear if there's anyone else who would feel better being where it's safe?" Russia suggested.

"We'll get to work getting everyone together," Picardy said.

Russia smiled when the regions scattered, going to tell everyone. The only ones _not_ scattering were Quebec and Vilnius. Quebec averted his eyes, and Russia's smile fell, to be replaced by a look of concern.

"Is this really what you want?" Russia asked.

Quebec looked up and smiled sadly.

"I'll only get in the way," he said. "It would be better if no one needed to protect me."

Russia nodded his head, and they waited for everyone to arrive. Once everyone was gathered, Russia decided to speak.

"The regions brought up something very true," Russia said. "Some of us wouldn't be able to fight, and it would be wrong to force them to stay here."

"So, take the non-combatants to safety?" Lebanon asked.

"Da."

"Not a bad idea," Myanmar said, glancing towards Nepal. "If we don't have to focus on protecting those that cannot fight, then we'd be able to fight better."

"Doesn't help my self-esteem," Nepal huffed. "And I can still fight!"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Norway said. "With your people wiped out, Amodi wouldn't need a special weapon or method to kill you. You're in a similar situation as me."

Nepal winced, before averting his eyes.

"That being said," Norway said, levelling his gaze on Russia. "I can still fight. If Prussia could still fight after his dissolution, then so can I. I have the memories of a Viking warrior."

"That _would_ be useful," Netherlands mused. "Especially if you manage to become a berserker."

Turkey snorted.

"Norway?" he scoffed. "Berserk? I fail to see how that would happen."

"Finland and Romania will be there," Norway said. "They're the ones keeping my brother hostage. Finland also killed my friends, and my royal family. I'd say I have enough reason to become berserk."

"But you no longer have the immortality of the nations to back you up," Greenland pointed out.

Norway smirked.

"Berserker humans have given nations problems before," he said.

"And Nepal," Myanmar said, "no offence, but you're not much of a fighter. It would be best if you went where it's safe."

"I also vote that we sent Serbia to safety," Slovenia announced.

"What?" Serbia asked.

"If you see Romania, you wouldn't be able to move. And I don't want him hurting you again. You've only just recovered physically."

Slovenia didn't add that Serbia still needed to recover psychologically, and there was no need to. The Serb pouted, averting his gaze.

"We should also move China," Japan said. "It would be bad for him to stay here, especially since he hasn't regained consciousness yet. America would know how to take care of him, since he helped me as much as possible after my own brush with nuclear weapons."

"Okay then," Russia said. "Anyone else?"

No one answered, and Russia nodded.

"Shall we use General Winter, or Adamastor?" Russia asked.

"Adamastor is more eager to help," White pointed out, a small smile on her face.

…

Canada disconnected the call. He could feel a presence intruding, and he didn't turn to see it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to see it anyway.

" _Sending someone else on your behalf,_ " the voice sneered. " _You must not care much for your ally._ "

"I had hoped that you would at least be curious about the reason why I decided to free you," Canada said. "I guess it doesn't matter that you're not interested in Ethiopia. I made you curious enough to want to speak to me."

"… _You are a strange one. You know what I'm willing to do. Would you be willing to sacrifice your people for my whims?_ "

"If it could earn your cooperation, however brief."

"… _You are unlike any nation I've encountered._ "

"I've disconnected with my people. I don't care about them. They are simply resources. A means to an end. And I don't care what you do to the rest of the world, although there are a few nations that I would have to ask you to skip. I don't want to have to deal with them being angry at me. And then there are those that I would like you to pay _very_ close attention to."

There was silence for a while, before the voice chuckled.

" _Someone like you has nothing to offer me, so why should I lend my services?_ "

"Because I already lost the ones most precious to me, and I would like their killers to pay."

"… _If I were to accept your proposal, I would need someone. A nation, or someone like you. Preferably, someone who shares a connection with you._ "

Canada pursed his lips.

"I have someone in mind," he said. "Though unfortunately, he is in the hands of my enemies."

" _That is unimportant. I already know you. And if you are truly connected, then I would be able to find him. Though I must ask that you take me to his heart._ "

"If I give him to you, would you be willing to destroy my enemies? One of them is the largest nation. I'm sure you'd have a lot of fun with his land."

" _I will do you the favour, for as long as your sacrifice can feed me. I'm sure you understand that the more he's suffered, the longer it lasts._ "

"Oh, I understand. Is that all?"

" _The name of your sacrifice_."

Canada smirked.

"Quebec."


	113. Chapter 112

**Thanks to TooShyToReview, terraventure, eldwist, SansTheLanguage218, Harmony Houston and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 112**

"Then it's settled," Italy said, a smirk on his face. "We'll head out an hour after nightfall, and our attack should happen during the next night. We'll rendezvous with Israel, Philippines and the Koreas, and we'll let Israel lead us to our enemies' location."

"It's about time," Romano said. "I was starting to get bored."

"Agreed," Sealand said. "This is going to be _our_ first attack as nations."

"We'll make sure to make you proud," Kugelmugel said.

Kugelmugel no longer kept his hair in twin braids, but had opted for a long ponytail. Along with his growth spurt, it made him look more mature. Sealand also no longer wore his sailor outfit, and instead wore the unofficial uniform of Amodi: a loose black shirt with loose-fitting black pants and black boots. Ladonia also wore the uniform and no longer had paint on his face, while Wy's hair was tied in a low braid behind her, and she wore a black halter top, the female version.

"I have no doubt about it," Italy said, smiling fondly at the micronations.

"Just so you know, there _is_ a chance that some of you would get hurt," Poland said. "Or even killed."

"And we accept the possibility," Finland said. "We're more prepared than they are when it comes to killing nations. For one thing, they would need to come close if they even want to try."

"And we're stocked up on ammunition," Romania said. "Everything will be fine."

"You all know which nations _not_ to kill, right?" Italy asked.

"Of course," Romano said. "It's time I retrieve that errant prisoner."

"Madeira is also there," Belarus said.

"And the last piece for the collection, too."

"Alright then," Italy said. "I order you all to get enough rest. The next two days will be a handful."

"Understood," many of the other nations said.

…

"Dude, this smells awesome," America said, inhaling deeply. "I knew it was a good idea to bring you back."

"I'm glad that my culinary expertise is appreciated," France said drily. "Though I had hoped my combat expertise would have been more useful."

"Let's not start there," Germany sighed. "Though I think that fighting _is_ a more useful skill than cooking."

"We've had Thai cooking the entire time," Pakistan pointed out. "It's either too sweet or too spicy."

Thailand shrugged, digging into the breakfast before him. Black frowned, looking to the sky.

"I sense a storm coming," Black said.

"Serious?" America asked, looking towards the sky.

"Please don't speak with your mouth full," France sighed.

"…Oh," Black said, eyes widening.

There was a sudden gust of wind, and they saw a number of figures appear in front of them. They grinned, recognising the figures as their allies. Germany turned to Black with an amused expression.

"You sensed _them_ coming, didn't you?" Germany asked.

"It's possible," Black said.

"Black South Africa," Adamastor said, stalking closer. "Or should I say, Zululand?"

Black smirked.

"The legendary storm of the Cape of Storms," Black said. "Did the Boer send you?"

Adamastor nodded, before glancing towards the nations. It was only then that they took a good look at them.

Japan was carrying China, and he immediately focused his gaze on America, who went closer.

"He was attacked by nuclear weapons," Japan said.

"I know," America said.

"You know how to tend to these wounds. I leave him to your care."

"You're not staying?"

Japan shook his head.

"I'm sure that the battle will take place soon," Japan said. "I will fight them, and if I have to die, then I will die honourably. But I cannot allow China to be in danger. Not when he's like this."

America nodded, taking the unconscious nation from his friend.

"How long has he been asleep?" America asked.

"Since a while after the attack struck," Japan said.

America bit his lip, nodding his head.

"We have a house where we can leave him," America said.

Japan nodded, glancing around.

"This place is far more developed than ours," he said.

"It's an old ghost town," America said, smirking.

"And you're okay with it."

"Hey, we already have zombies. What's a couple of ghosts?"

Afghanistan glared at America, and Germany approached Japan. Japan gave a small smile.

"It's good to see you again, Germany-san," Japan said. "I'm sorry about what happened to you."

"It's good to see you too, Japan," Germany said. "It _is_ unfortunate, though."

France approached Quebec, a wide smile on his face. Quebec was watching France intently.

"So, you are petit Quebec," France said. "I, of course, am France. Has Picardy been treating you well?"

Quebec gave a small smile.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said. "Picardy has been nice, but not as nice as some of the others."

"Honhonhon, perhaps I should give you some French education?" France suggested slyly.

Madagascar frowned, whacking the Frenchman over the head. Vilnius wandered away, feeling nervous about all these nations, and Serbia and Nepal went to see what their breakfast contained.

"Not that this isn't a pleasant surprise," Louisiana said, "but what _are_ you doing here?"

"We felt it best to bring the non-combatants to safety," Japan said. "There is no need to place them in unnecessary danger."

"Good idea," Germany said. "Are you going back with Adamastor?"

"That is the idea. None of the others have the strength to carry China."

"Thanks for reminding me," Nepal muttered.

"I have strength," Serbia said.

"You keep shaking every now and again. You're in an even worse state than _I_ am."

Serbia narrowed his eyes, and Afghanistan approached Japan and Adamastor.

"Since the battle is fast approaching," she said, "perhaps you could do with _our_ help?"

"That is why we are here, after all," France said, smiling.

"If you wouldn't mind," Japan said, before glancing towards Adamastor. "Is that alright with you?"

"Amodi wouldn't know what hit them," Adamastor said, grinning.

"Alright, how is it that the Boer's storms are so friendly?" Black asked.

"Because for once, I can play a part in helping my nation. And that includes you."

…

Canada checked on New Zealand and Australia's programmes. He needed to make sure that the audio and video they received were still functioning. He had turned off the electrocution, since this next stage wouldn't need it.

He could still wait a day before he had to check on the other nations, but for now, he needed to get this job done. Once he was satisfied that everything was working, he went towards New Zealand, carefully removing the device on his head.

New Zealand stared up at him blankly, and Canada wondered if it was because of exhaustion, or because the programming was working.

"What is your name?" Canada asked.

New Zealand frowned, before he shook his head.

"I don't know," he said.

"Who am I?"

"I don't know."

"What _do_ you know?"

New Zealand frowned, thinking about the question, before he shook his head.

"I don't know," he said.

Canada nodded, placing the device back on New Zealand's head. He heard a whimper from the ex-nation, but didn't let it bother him as he went to Australia. He repeated the procedure, but Australia could at least provide his human name.

… _That_ wasn't allowed.

Canada sighed as he activated the machines again, hearing the whimpers from the former Oceanic nations. He would check again when he returned from Montreal.

"I'll be back soon," he told Antarctica. "Make sure that they all stay like that."

Antarctica nodded, not even looking up from his book. Canada had opted to give him a few books to keep him from boredom. The North American shook his head, before heading towards his car. He could sense the presence, which, for now, had no form.

"How long are you going to be invisible?" Canada asked.

" _Until I have my sacrifice_."

Canada nodded his head, and he started to drive.

…

Malta was reading a book, not caring about the war going on. As the only Italy sister, she had of course been approached to become a part of Amodi, but she turned her brothers down. She didn't want to get involved in a war, and as far as she knew, she was the only nation that was allowed to be neutral.

She had been a part of too many empires, and she made it clear to her brothers that if she was forced to be part of one more empire, well… She managed to pick up a few things. She kept quiet about everything that Amodi was doing, and knew that as long as she didn't interfere, her neutrality was assured. She felt a bit bad about deceiving the other nations, but considering her history, it was easy to put those concerns behind her.

And she also managed to pick up a thing or two from the masquerade. Canada's invisibility served her well. No one was bothering with such a tiny island when they had bigger fish to fry.

And with the war going on, and everything the war did, this was the first time in a long time that she had some time to herself.

…

Svalbard kept his rifle steady, seeing the soldiers down below. He was quite a distance away, and if he managed to shoot one, the others wouldn't be able to reach his location in time. And perhaps he could even kill more than one soldier.

He didn't know if Amodi was aware of his presence, but ever since he felt his connection to Norway snap, he was fighting. He knew well what was going on, and he refused to go down without a fight.

So far, none of the nations had come to his island, but it was only a matter of time. Reports had to be flooding in of a sniper sending many of them to their graves.

Closing one eye, he carefully took aim before pulling the trigger.

…

"Black!"

Black smiled as he suddenly felt arms around his frame, blond hair momentarily filling his vision. He couldn't remember ever being hugged by his white counterpart, but considering all that had happened, he didn't blame her. After all, _she_ was the one who witnessed _his_ death, and he knew that the effects would have been hard on her. Having to adopt the people that technically belonged to him, for example.

He just wished that she wasn't so athletic, or that _rugby_ had to be her sport.

"It's good to see you too, White," he said, a smile on his face.

He got a whiff of the scent of flowers, and was reminded of home. She pulled away, grinning broadly. He chuckled.

"For you to be happy to see me, the world _must_ be ending," he joked.

She smacked him on the shoulder, but she didn't grow angry. She had a hint of sadness.

"The last time I saw you, I watched you die," she said. "And the anthem was a low blow. Do you have any idea of the kak you've left me with?"

"Israel," Black said, nodding solemnly. "I knew that he was a bad egg. And when Amodi got to him…"

He shook his head, before looking over her shoulder. He saw Brazil, watching them with an annoyed look on his face. He grinned, walking away from White and making his way to Brazil. He clapped his hands together before giving a small bow.

"Thanks for taking care of her," Black said.

Brazil looked at him in surprise, before nodding his head, grinning. He clapped him on the shoulder.

"Nice to see you again," Brazil said. "You wouldn't happen to have a ball with you, would you?"

While rugby was White's sport, soccer was Black's sport. Black chuckled and shook his head.

Afghanistan made her way to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, and her eyes widened when Kazakhstan threw her arms around her in a hug.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Kazakhstan snapped, glaring at the other.

"Sorry," Afghanistan said. "I didn't exactly want to _die_ , but…"

"Don't do it again," Tajikistan said.

Afghanistan smiled sadly.

"Unfortunately, when this war is over, I intend to go back," she said. "I don't belong in this world anymore. The others all agree."

The other two pursed their lips, and Kazakhstan averted her gaze. Then, she seemed to realise something.

"Where's Pakistan?" she asked.

"He decided to stay behind," Afghanistan said. "They found an old ghost town, and they're working on reparations. It's in a better condition than _this_ place, but there's still a lot of work to do."

"And what about America?" Tajikistan asked. "I thought he would have wanted to come here and play the hero."

Afghanistan rolled her eyes.

"When he found out that I was leaving, he actually _cheered_ ," she said. "And when the question turned on him, he said that he needed to take care of China. Plus, he also has Liechtenstein to worry about. She's not coming for this attack, and wants to continue her attack on America's states. Once he manages to get a lock on her location, he's going to take care of her once and for all."

"He actually _cheered_ when you left?" Kazakhstan asked, trying to refrain from smiling.

"I don't know why, though," Afghanistan said. "I was actually being civil. It helps that he wasn't being his normal, insufferable self. Though, I think it might have something to do with the fact that I would sometimes smack him over the head whenever something stupid comes out of his mouth."

The other two exchanged a look, clearly amused.

Germany and France made their way towards Russia and Turkey, who were grinning when they saw them.

"Long time, no see," Turkey said.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" France asked playfully. "So, Russia, did you manage to use the information?"

Russia nodded.

"Your sacrifice was not in vain," he said. "Though, still a bit foolish."

France winced, before shaking his head.

"At least _he_ was able to contribute in this war," Germany said icily.

"Oh yeah," Turkey said. "You were the first nation to be captured. I actually forgot about it."

"Thank you for that," Germany said sarcastically.

"I have a few questions about the afterlife," Russia said, a smile on his face.

"We're not really allowed to tell you," France said.

"There's just one thing I want to know: Do France and England still fight?"

France was silent, and Germany smirked.

"England's too busy conveying messages to you," Germany said. "Though, France _does_ spend a lot of time with Spain and Prussia. Mostly, they're still trying to console Spain regarding his former colonies killing him and eating his heart. Though, the rest of them are also trying to comfort Spain, and Spain's comforting them. It's a bit sad that it took all of them dying for their family to get closer."

"And Haiti is worried about his heir," France said. "He's inconsolable."

"What happened?" Turkey asked.

"She was captured by Amodi, but because she's so young, she was sent to the Africans. Algeria was asked to look after her."

Jordan made her way to the Middle Eastern nations, and they eyed the hole in her throat. She gave a strangled smile, before shrugging.

"It was a lucky shot," she said. "It's unfortunate."

Oman suddenly hugged her, surprising her. The others joined in on the hug.

"We're so sorry that this had to happen to you," Yemen said.

"It's alright," Jordan said, her smile growing genuine. "What's done is done."

Madagascar made her way to Michoacán, who watched her in surprise. After a while, Michoacán averted her gaze.

"You tried to help me," Madagascar said. "And unfortunately, we learned that nations captured by Amodi can't be saved. You didn't know, and I don't blame you."

Michoacán looked back to her and gave a small smile, before it turned into a smirk.

"I'm just picturing Amodi's faces when they see you guys again."

Madagascar grinned.

" _That_ should make for some decent entertainment," she said.

…

Canada stopped the car. They were now in the very heart of Montreal. He knew that the presence was still with him, and he wondered what it intended to do.

"This is his land, and a vital city for him," Canada said. "Are you sure that you can find him?"

" _Of course I can. Do you wish for me to bring him to you?_ "

"Sure. I'd like to see him conscious one more time before you do with him what you will. I want to see the fear in his eyes."

The presence chuckled.

" _You are indeed an interesting one. I hope there are more nations like you._ "

Canada chuckled, and he felt the presence leave. He started the car again, driving towards his Montreal house. It would definitely be a cruel torture for Quebec to lose everything in his own land.

…

Quebec shuddered. He had an ominous feeling. It was as though something horrible was about to happen. But it shouldn't be. He was supposed to be safe here. Nothing should happen to him.

"Hey!"

Quebec jumped at the sudden sound, and turned to face the speaker. He almost fell from the stump he was sitting on when he saw America approach. America, who looked too much like Canada. The province started to tremble as he remembered his time with his nation.

America saw his distress and stopped, looking at him with sad eyes.

"Mattie really did a number on you, didn't he?" America asked. "But I assure you, you don't have to worry. I won't hurt you."

Quebec eyed the nation for a while before he nodded, turning away. America sighed.

"Anyway, be sure to tell me if you need something," America said, before he started to walk away.

There were two distressed cries, and Quebec turned to see the two American states looking anxious. He forced his way to his feet, seeing America running towards them. Something was wrong, and the two started trembling.

And then, Quebec felt a chill invading his entire body as what felt like a hand wrapped around his throat from behind.

" _I told him that I could find you_ ," a cruel voice whispered. " _It's nice to meet you, Quebec. Canada's told me about you._ "

 **An interesting thing to note when you have a gathering of South African boys. If they're mostly white, they have a rugby ball or a cricket ball and bat, but if they're mostly black, there will be a soccer ball. If school children in South Africa have to wait in a large group, then the boys would most likely be playing. The girls can mostly keep themselves occupied with conversation, but sometimes they will have either a netball ball or a hockey stick and ball. But rugby, cricket and soccer are the sports we hear the most about, so that's what I refer to.**

 **South Africa is also known for its floral kingdom, so that's why White has a floral scent. The national flower, the protea, is also not very subtle. And try googling the Namaqualand flowers (seriously, if you're ever in South Africa, try to be there while the flowers are blooming).**

 **Another thing I noticed with lower class South Africans is that they will often clap their hands together and bow their head slightly when speaking to someone of higher authority. It's also something someone will adopt when really grateful, and occasionally begging. I do it as well occasionally. It's an African tradition to clap your hands to someone with higher authority as a show of respect (at least in Southern Africa). There was actually a book we started reading in school that explicitly explained that the hand clapping is a form of respect. I also sometimes clap my hands when saying 'thank you' to my dad. Especially if money's involved…**


	114. Chapter 113

**Thanks to Terra, TooShyToReview, eldwist and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 113**

America rushed over to Louisiana and Massachusetts, who each looked as though they were _terrified_. This was even worse than America tended to get when ghosts were involved. Well, how he _used_ _to_ get. Living with – what could only be classified as – zombies for a while tended to cure one of a fear of ghosts.

"What's going on?" he asked in alarm.

"There's s-something here," Louisiana said. "S-something… pure _evil_."

"The ghosts a-are fleeing," Massachusetts said.

America frowned. Even if he _did_ get over his fear – to an extent – he knew that if ghosts were _fleeing_ , then it couldn't be good.

"Where is it?" America asked.

The two didn't answer, but they fixed their gazes at a point behind America. He felt a terrible sense of foreboding, and expected this thing to be behind him when he turned around. But he still needed to check.

He relaxed a little when he realised that the thing wasn't directly behind him, but then he froze. He saw what the states were looking at.

Quebec was frozen in what looked like fear, his eyes wide and body trembling. Around him, one could barely see black smoke. His gaze locked with America's, and America could see his mouth moving.

 _Help me._

But before anyone could react, Quebec just… disappeared. The two states gasped, as though some pressure had been released. And America could actually feel the temperature rising. He hadn't noticed that it had dropped.

"W-what _was_ that?" America asked.

"S-something ancient," Massachusetts said. "Something _evil_."

"Do you think it has something to do with Amodi?"

"Why else… would it take Quebec?" Louisiana asked. "Mon dieu, that feeling…"

America gritted his teeth. Right now, he wished that he had access to someone like Adamastor or General Winter. Someone who could perhaps help him, any maybe even tell him what that… _thing_ was.

"We need to save Quebec," America muttered. "But _how_?"

"We can ask Pele for help," Louisiana said.

"Who?" America asked, turning to his state.

"She was the volcano goddess of Hawaii. I actually met her before. And Madagascar told me that Pele was making sure Yellowstone stays safe."

"Is there a way to contact her?"

"I can try."

"Please. If what you said about that thing is true, and it has Quebec… Dammit! Can't that poor kid catch a break?"

…

Canada had just entered the house when he sensed the presence again. He frowned, making his way to the living room. Quebec was lying on the couch, passed out and pale. But… he certainly looked _healthier_ than the last time Canada had seen him.

" _Poor thing_ ," the voice said sarcastically. " _He fainted out of sheer terror. But I can sense the suffering. Excellent choice. He should keep me satisfied for a while._ "

"Looks like we're waiting for him to wake up," Canada said. "I want to see the terror in his eyes when he realises what we have in store for him."

…

Palestine wandered away from the group, joining up with Gaza. Her brother smiled when he saw her, scooting over to give her room to sit.

"Israel's coming," Palestine said.

"No need to remind me," Gaza said. "I know."

"He's going to try to kill us."

"Is he? Sounds like he's more focused on getting White back."

The two glanced towards the South Africans, who were laughing with each other. Brazil and Netherlands had been pulled in as well.

"I feel sorry for her," Palestine said. "Having someone like Israel as her stalker."

"And apparently, he's completely loopy," Gaza said. "I think, for the sake of our survival, we should avoid him. We shouldn't let him see us."

"Let's hope we can manage that."

…

She frowned, turning her head towards a specific point. She could sense her nation calling for her. And she would be a fool not to answer the call.

…

Ethiopia sighed in relief when he finally reached the tomb's exit. He hesitated for a moment, before pulling out his cell phone again. He would _probably_ need to tell Italy about what's happening.

"Ethiopia," Italy said, sounding far too pleased. "Are you coming? There's only a limited time before we launch our attack."

"What are you talking about?" Ethiopia asked. "Never mind. I have something important to report. Canada has _definitely_ lost his mind."

Italy sighed.

"What are his plans _now_?" Italy asked.

"He made me come to Egypt and free Panarus."

Italy was silent. Ethiopia knew why. It was the personification of all things negative… Chaos, cruelty, violence, torture, murder… It was a being that fed on suffering. It was something that not even the nations of Amodi wanted to release. But _now_ … Now one of their members _did_ release it.

"And how do you know that?" Italy asked coldly.

"Because Canada sent _me_ to do his dirty work," Ethiopia said. "He also sent me to become a sacrifice, but _he_ didn't want me."

"But was he released?"

"…Yes. Unfortunately."

Italy swore, and Ethiopia arched a brow. It's been a while since he heard such _colourful_ language. Even during the masquerade, Romano never spoke like _that_.

"I'm going to kill him," Italy snarled. "Return to your base immediately."

"Thanks. I will."

Ethiopia hung up the phone, before turning to his two guides. He arched an eyebrow.

"So, any chance one of you could take me home?" he asked.

…

Italy was fuming. He withdrew to his room, and not even Poland was allowed in. Everyone grew concerned.

Italy, meanwhile, tried to call Canada, who wasn't answering his phone. He snarled in rage, and everyone standing outside heard things breaking in the room.

"You don't think it has something to do with our attack?" Sealand asked nervously.

"No, I don't think so," Seborga said. "He would have been more vocal about it."

"This does _not_ bode well," Romano said.

…

Quebec groaned, opening his eyes. What happened? Why did he feel cold?

The things that happened before he lost consciousness came flooding into his mind, and he sat up in alarm. He knew this place. He could feel the connection to his land. And he was probably the only one that _didn't_ like the thought of being home.

Because if he was in his land, then that meant that he was in Canada. And if he was in Canada…

He trembled as the memories of the past flashed through his mind. He didn't want to have to endure all of that again. And if Canada had brought him here just to kill him, well… It was the cruellest thing he's ever done.

One thing bothered Quebec, though: Why wasn't he restrained?

"Did you enjoy your nap?"

Quebec's head snapped up when he heard that voice, and he whimpered when he saw the nation. Canada smirked, satisfied with Quebec's fear.

"I see you're doing well," Canada said, stalking closer. Quebec flinched. "It must really be horrible to be back."

Quebec lowered his head. He knew that he wasn't supposed to answer Canada. If he said anything, it could only lead to violence. And when you were as frail as Quebec, violence – even just a slap – was something that needed to be avoided.

Sure, he had gained strength after he left, but he was still far too weak. There was no way that he could fight Canada, and he would have to admit that he was at his nation's mercy.

He felt Canada gripping his chin, and he flinched at the contact. Almost too gently, Canada tilted his head to look at him, and sooner than he would have liked, Quebec was looking up into the eyes that had haunted his nightmares. Canada smiled brightly, only making Quebec's fear grow.

"You've gained a light in your eyes," Canada said. "It's actually possible to see the emotion there. Perhaps letting you spend some time with the enemies was a good thing."

The temperature dropped, and Quebec was alerted to the fact that he and Canada weren't alone in the room. He could see black smoke that vaguely created the outline of a figure and he instinctively knew that this… _presence_ meant trouble.

"You've already met Panarus," Canada said. "The personification of cruelty, suffering, torture, death, destruction… You are actually very familiar with him. And you're going to be helping him. You see, he is willing to help me with something, but for that, he's going to need a sacrifice. Someone who has known much suffering in his life."

Quebec's eyes widened, and he whimpered in fear. Canada smirked, before stepping aside.

The smoky figure rushed towards him, and he instinctively gasped. His mouth was forced open wider, and he could _feel_ the black smoke entering him. He couldn't close his mouth. He couldn't turn his head away. He couldn't move at all. He just had to allow this… force to violate him. As usual, he was helpless, and as usual, he was terrified.

Quebec must have blacked out for a moment, for he suddenly found himself in a black void. He was on his knees with his arms chained behind his back. But even if his arms weren't chained, he couldn't move.

In the blackness, he could see a figure appearing. The man was pale, with black hair and black eyes. Quebec knew that this man wasn't there to help him. This man was his new captor.

"Comfortable?" the man asked.

Quebec felt a chill in his very soul when he heard that voice. It was the voice he heard before he found himself in Canada's presence. The voice that, possibly, belonged to the black smoke. Panarus.

The figure grinned, terrifying Quebec even more.

"I see I don't have to introduce myself," Panarus said. "I just thought you'd like to know what I have in store for you."

Quebec didn't answer, knowing that the words that were expected would be 'what do you mean', or something of that nature. He knew he couldn't fight, and this was the only form of defiance he could give, while he still had the air of someone submissive and frightened. Decades with Canada had taught him many things.

Panarus took note of his silence and smirked.

"I may be a powerful being, possibly more powerful than a nation, if I set my mind to it," he said casually. "But that means nothing if I don't have a corporeal form. The ancients made it their mission to seal me away, and part of that involved stripping me of my body. My essence was sealed within a tomb which had all sorts of wards to keep me inside. But I always made it clear that if someone wanted to use my… services, then I would need a sacrifice. I'd always expected some foolhardy human, but to my surprise, it was a _nation_ that came to free me. Canada is very interesting. But the matter is, I still needed a sacrifice. One whose body I could use."

Quebec shuddered, knowing that _he_ was the one. Panarus smirked, crouching down in front of him.

"Unfortunately, humans burn out far too fast for my liking, and even nations have an expiration date. You're somewhere in the middle. But something that helps extend the life expectancy of my sacrifice is, well, suffering. Those familiar with suffering tend to last longer. And _you_ …" Panarus chuckled. "You've known nothing _but_ suffering. You only have a few weeks without knowing suffering. You… you're going to last _long_. Perhaps a _year_. Humans would only last one or two days. But _you_ … using your body, I can do a _lot_ of damage."

Quebec's eyes widened marginally, but Panarus still noticed, and his smirk widened.

"Canada wants me to attack a few nations," Panarus said. "But it shouldn't take so long to take care of them. And when I'm finished, I'll go after those friends of yours."

"N-no," Quebec whimpered.

He knew that he shouldn't have done that. He wasn't supposed to reveal that what this creature was saying affected him. And now, Panarus looked even more amused than he had been.

"Poor little Quebec," he mocked. "I'll be sure to show you what's happening when the time comes. But for now, you won't even be aware of what's happening around you. You'd be too busy wallowing in your past suffering."

There was a flash of white, and Quebec found himself being dragged by someone. And for some reason, he felt… smaller. He looked up, and saw that it was Canada. Canada said nothing as he dragged Quebec, and the province was struggling, even though he wasn't consciously attempting that. He was dragged down to the basement.

"At least you'll be useful," Canada muttered. "But I need to keep you out of the way."

"Let go!" Quebec shouted. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm just taking you to your new home."

When Quebec saw the basement, he immediately knew what was going on. He was being forced to relive his past. And this… This was when he was originally locked up, when his torture was about to begin. He had only recently come into being, and still didn't know much, but he couldn't do anything.

Before the manacles were locked into place, Canada removed a taser and aimed it for Quebec's neck. He screamed in pain, his body going limp, and Canada locked him in place. Canada gripped his hair, pulling his head backwards before whispering harshly into his ear.

"Be thankful that I have _some_ use for you," Canada growled. "Otherwise, you'd follow your brothers and sisters."

Canada pulled away, and Quebec screamed after him, but he wasn't listening to his own words. He was trapped in his own mind, forced to go through this torture again. And if he had to relive _everything_ …

In the beginning, Canada would often come to hurt him. To get him to cooperate, or to keep him quiet. And sometimes, he would come with someone from Amodi, and they would run… _experiments_ on him. He had never told any of the others, since it had stopped after a decade or so, and his fear for Canada became more prominent.

But he was being forced to relive the memories that made him fear Canada in the first place.

…

Canada watched as Quebec's appearance changed. His hair became black, and when he opened his eyes, they were red. This was no longer Quebec, but Panarus. And Panarus smirked at Canada.

"Sweet memories," Panarus said. "Should give me enough suffering."

"Are you satisfied?" Canada asked.

"Yes. Now, you wanted to borrow my services?"

"There are two nations in particular I want you to go after: Russia and Turkey. Russia would be fun, I think. After all, he _is_ the nation with the largest landmass."

Panarus chuckled.

"I'll be able to find them," he said. "I'll see you soon."

Panarus disappeared, and Canada sighed, before his phone started ringing. Again. He knew who it was, and wasn't in the mood to deal with him. But, he would already be in enough trouble for ignoring his earlier calls. Sighing, he answered the phone.

"Yes, Italy?" he asked, sounding bored.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Italy demanded. Canada winced, pulling the phone away slightly. "You unleashed chaos and destruction, and tried to sacrifice your ally?!"

"…Oh, so you heard from Ethiopia. Don't worry. I have this situation under control."

"Canada, you…"

Canada hung up the phone, not caring what his leader had to say. He had a personal vendetta, and he wouldn't wait for something else to go wrong.

…

The nations in America's group were waiting anxiously. They had no idea where Quebec was, or what had taken him, or _why_. But they knew that they needed to get him back.

There was a flash, and the temperature seemed to increase. Everyone turned to the new arrival, who looked at all of them with wary eyes.

"You must be Pele," America said.

"I am," she said. "And I know that you are America. I heard you calling for me. What is it you want?"

"We need your help to save Quebec."

Pele frowned, before she closed her eyes. After a while, she shook her head.

"It's impossible," Pele said. "He has been taken by an ancient force. He is locked deep within his own mind, while evil uses his body as it sees fit."

"Is there a way to help him?" Louisiana asked.

"It will take a lot of magic, but without knowing what you're dealing with, it would be dangerous. And there is no guarantee that he would survive."

…

When Italy finally emerged from his room, everyone sighed in relief. He looked calm, but everyone could sense the rage rolling off of him, as well as… fear?

"Romania, Belarus, I need you to come with me to the office," he said. "No one else is to follow."

He glanced towards Poland, conveying some sort of message with his eyes. The blond huffed, but nodded his head. Italy started making his way to the office, the aforementioned two following after him.

Italy said nothing as he started rifling through the cabinets, and once he found what he was looking for, he took the scroll to the copy machine. Belarus and Romania watched him, not saying a word. Italy was acting strangely, and was frankly starting to scare them. Finally, Italy placed a stack of copies in front of him.

"Take one of these to Wales," he said. "And it looks like Norway gets to live longer. It would also be a good idea to find out who else in their group knows magic. We'll need all the help we can get."

"What's going on?" Romania asked.

Italy sighed.

"I received a call from Ethiopia earlier," Italy said. "Said that Canada had sent him on an errand."

"What was the nature of this errand?" Belarus asked.

"He went to Egypt to release something locked in a tomb."

The other two nations widened their eyes, realisation dawning on them.

"Canada has released Panarus," Italy said. "And we need to imprison him again. Before it's too late."

 **There's a trope called 'horrifying the horror'.** _ **That**_ **is Panarus. Go check out the page on TV Tropes. The examples are pretty interesting.**

 **And there's a story,** _ **Dawn of the New World Order**_ **by BlazeSilvermageVIII that was inspired by this story. Go check it out. It's like a mirror counterpart, where victims are villains. Well, not in all cases, but it's really interesting to see. It actually made me want to reread this story – which I actually wanted to do for a while – which made me notice a few errors… *winces*. Most are typos, but there's a case or two of using the wrong name, and I might have switched Serbia and Slovenia's initial roles. For the next while, I'll be rereading this story and correcting the errors, but don't worry, there won't be a hiatus, and the changes wouldn't be major enough to impact the story. The corrections would be to satisfy my OCD.**


	115. Chapter 114

**Thanks to Tytydown, i'm overthinking, TDIWTPVOCALOIDFAN, Harmony Houston, Elsa, eldwist, BlazeSilvermageVIII, topaz3, Eternal Nexus Warrior and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 114**

The Amodi nations were travelling in what was their imitation of a certain American aircraft. It was necessary, given their numbers, as well as some of their cargo they decided to bring along.

Belarus and Romania were sitting in the corner, rapidly discussing something in whispered tones. Poland, having been informed of the situation by Italy, was sitting gravely, and he looked as though he was going to be sick. Peru had also been told not to come along, and, while only Italy and Poland knew the particulars, he had left the base, looking extremely worried.

This concerned the other nations, but Italy informed them that it had nothing to do with the attack, and that it was because Canada had done something royally stupid. It helped to set their minds at ease, somewhat, but they were all left wondering what Canada could have _possibly_ done to have provoked such a reaction out of the two leaders, as well as Belarus and Romania. And they wanted to know how Peru was involved, though they figured that it had _something_ to do with the 'royally stupid' thing that Canada did.

Not even Finland was allowed to know, which told the other nations that something was _seriously_ wrong. But considering the nations involved, they managed to deduce that it had something to do with magic.

They hoped that they would find out what was happening eventually.

…

Wales stared at the papers, face growing paler. The papers had suddenly appeared on his desk, along with a post-it saying 'read, help'. He made sure that the children were busy before he started reading the papers.

And the things he was reading… Amodi had knowledge of something like _that_? He would need to get in contact with the others to hear what they had to say. Because honestly…

The description was terrifying, to say the least. And even if it had been copied by a machine, he could sense the magic in the words, and he knew that this wasn't a joke. This was truly something dangerous, and the longer it was allowed to remain free, the worse things would become.

"Wales?"

He jumped in surprise, and he turned to see the one that had called out to him. Arabia cocked her head to the side, unsure of his actions.

"S-sorry," Wales said. "I guess I was absorbed in reading."

She frowned, glancing to the papers. Then…

"Could you teach _me_ to read?" she asked.

Wales paused, before he smiled. He _should_ probably do that.

"Sure," he said. "Would you also like me to teach you Welsh?"

"Your language?" Arabia asked, eyes sparkling. "Can you?"

"Of course. So, was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Yeah. Could we perhaps go outside sometime? There has to be more than just your house."

Wales frowned, before looking outside. It had been raining a lot recently, but it was normal. He didn't think that they would want to go out in the rain.

"You don't want to go out in the rain," Wales said. "You might catch a cold. You'll get sick. But…" He smiled. "Maybe I can take you shopping?"

"Shopping?" Arabia asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yes. You'll see when we go, alright? But we'll go tomorrow. It's a bit late right now to do anything."

She nodded, a bright smile on her face. Wales figured that it was about time for them to get some more clothes as well. And maybe toys.

He smiled, thinking of ways in which he can spoil these children, before his eyes fell on the papers again. He would have to play his part. For the children.

…

Panarus smirked as he arrived in Russia. It would seem that the land was used to harsh winters. But it wasn't winter.

He loved liminalities. It was neither winter nor summer, so it was possible for either one to rear its head. And with such a large land…

The _endless_ possibilities.

He looked up at the darkened sky. It was time to give Russia a hard time. And he should probably get the ball rolling in Turkey as well.

…

Russia shuddered. He just had a disturbing sensation. He had heard humans describe this multiple times, but had never put much thought in the statement. But, to put it bluntly, it felt as though someone had just stepped over his grave.

His instincts were screaming that something was truly wrong. He just didn't know what it was, or how to fix it.

…

Black walked out to the fields. There was something that needed to be done.

"Adamastor," he whispered.

The winds shifted, and a moment later, the storm spirit was standing in front of him.

"What is it?" Adamastor asked.

"There's someone that I need you to find," Black said. "Someone that could prove to be a valuable ally. But also, someone who only has one precious person. That precious person is in trouble."

Adamastor nodded.

"Alright," he said. "Just give me the name."

…

Israel was pacing restlessly. The other three had opted for a nap, but Israel couldn't join them. They had received word that their allies were on their way, and Israel was silently urging them to hurry.

"Could you _please_ stop doing that?" a tired voice asked.

Israel jumped, before turning to the sleeping nations, only to see that South Korea was awake, staring at him with a hint of annoyance.

"You'll need all your energy," South said. "After all, _you're_ going to act as navigator. Best you get as much sleep as possible before they arrive."

"How could I _possibly_ sleep?" Israel demanded. "I'm so close… And now I just have to wait _patiently_ for them to come?"

South sighed.

"Think of it this way," he said. "Sleeping will make time fly faster. And it would give you the energy needed to do what you need to do. Because you of all people wouldn't get the chance to sleep once they arrive. You're the only one that knows the way, after all."

Israel stared at South before he sighed. In truth, he couldn't sleep. It was as though there was something buzzing in his soul that kept him awake.

"Fine," he said. "I'll try."

"As long as you stop pacing," South said, yawning. "It's very distracting."

Israel shook his head, and he watched as South closed his eyes again, most likely prepared to continue his nap. Israel went into the kitchen, wondering if he could perhaps get something to help him sleep.

…

Pele shook her head, before pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's impossible," she said. "If he was still a nation – or region, as the case may be – I might have been able to track him. But now… There's no way to reach him."

"Fine," America said. "Is it possible to figure out where he had been before you lost track of him?"

"Yes," Pele said.

"Take me there."

…

Ulimaroa sighed, looking out over the sea. Perhaps he should have taken Australia up on his offer to travel. He was unfamiliar with travelling, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't understand these human protocols.

Not to mention, he felt nervous. He had never left his lands before. And he had a lot of difficulties explaining to the humans about what he wanted to do. Eventually, he managed to get a place on board a ship, but he had no idea whether it would take him to his destination.

He had left Australia to handle the affairs of humans. He was the land, and thus dealt with the flora, fauna and everything in-between.

He sighed, looking up at the sky. And paused. He could see the clouds gathering, and the winds had come to life. But there was something about this storm that didn't seem natural, in the sense that it was misplaced.

The humans were panicking, yelling at each other. And as Ulimaroa pondered the strangeness of the storm, a figure appeared next to him. He only had to look at the figure to know that this was something similar to him. Similar, but not quite.

"Are you Ulimaroa?" the figure asked.

"I am," he said. "Though, I don't know many who know my name. And I don't know yours."

"I am called Adamastor. I'm here on behalf of Black South Africa…"

Upon hearing the name, Ulimaroa chuckled. He had heard of the nation. Australia had complained about the two South Africas multiple times, and especially considered the White one to be a rival. Sports was part of human culture, and Australia represented that.

"I see that I wouldn't have to explain myself _too_ much," Adamastor said, a wry smile on his face.

"I heard of the land, of course," Ulimaroa said. "And its former name. So, I'm guessing you're the legendary storm of the Cape of Storms?"

Adamastor smirked.

"That would be me, yes," he said.

"So, you're the servant of a nation," Ulimaroa said, leaning against the railing.

Honestly, he was glad to meet another immortal being. Perhaps this one could actually help him out. Actually, would storms even know how to deal with humans on a personal level?

"And you're a continent," Adamastor said. "One whose nation had been stripped of his status."

Ulimaroa's expression was wiped, replaced with a blank expression that would terrify a lesser being. The storm seemed to notice, for he sighed.

"I don't know how much you know," Adamastor said. "Or how strong your connection to your nation is. But if it's anything like my connection to my nation, then you would at least have felt that _something_ was wrong."

Ulimaroa kept staring at Adamastor before he nodded.

"Yes, I _did_ notice that something was wrong," the continent whispered. "I felt our connection severing. I just didn't imagine… _how_?"

"Perhaps you'd like to come with me?" Adamastor suggested, looking around. "I think the humans would appreciate me leaving. Even if this _is_ fun… But it's best that we should leave before the Dutchman arrives. That's always a bit awkward…"

Ulimaroa rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but wonder who Adamastor was referring to.

…

Canada was just preparing to leave Montreal when he suddenly felt a disturbance. That was the only warning he received, before he was suddenly pinned to the wall, a hand around his throat.

"Bastard! Where is he?!"

Canada needed a moment to process what was happening, and once his mind caught up with him, he saw America standing in front of him, a snarl on his face. Before Canada could say something, America slammed him against the wall again, apparently growing tired of waiting.

Canada reached out to America's hand, loosening his fingers enough for him to be able to speak.

"If you wanted me to speak, you should have given me room to breathe," Canada pointed out.

America's grip loosened a little, and Canada released his own grip on America's fingers, allowing his hands to rest at his side. He knew that America wouldn't kill him.

"Now, what is it that you wanted?" Canada asked.

"Quebec," America snarled. "Where is he?"

A lazy smirk crossed Canada's face.

"What makes you think he's with me?" Canada asked.

"You're the only one with a motive to take him," America snarled. "And Pele told me that he was last here."

Canada frowned, before looking behind America's shoulder. He could tell that the woman standing behind him wasn't a human, but she also wasn't a nation.

"And, you are…?" Canada asked the woman.

"Pele," she said. "Though, perhaps you should ask Confederacy and Mexico about who I am."

She smirked, and Canada's eyes narrowed. He had heard about his allies' run-in with the Hawaiian volcano goddess. This must have been her. He turned his attention back to America.

"So, what do _you_ care what I do with _my_ province?" Canada asked.

"I know what you did to him," America hissed. "Before, all those years… And what about the other provinces?"

Canada chuckled.

"Well, we needed test subjects," Canada said. "Even Quebec helped out. Like when I cut out his tongue to see if he could heal from it. It takes longer than a nation, but it healed. I think that was the point when he stopped speaking."

America's eyes widened in rage, and Canada groaned when America's fist collided with his stomach.

"You're sick, you know that?" America snarled.

"Well, I'm sorry, but my only two morality pets were killed," Canada snapped. "Just be lucky that you weren't involved with either one of their deaths."

America pursed his lips.

"What happened to Quebec?" America demanded, voice cold.

"I don't see why it matters to you," Canada repeated. "But, if you must know… There's a personification of destruction. Actually, maybe I should be more specific. Well, it's a bit difficult, considering different interpretations exist. In Judaism and Christianity, it would be what happened when Eve bit the fruit. In Greek mythology, it would be what was inside Pandora's box."

America seemed to realise the implication, for he paled slightly.

"You're saying that there's something pure evil?" America asked.

"Well, evil is a bit subjective…" Canada said. "But, if you need to know what exactly it entails, he represents chaos, destruction, murder, torture…"

"In other words, everything that Amodi's done."

"Pretty much. Huh, now that I think about it, _that_ might be the reason why Italy's so angry at me. Once released, it's very difficult to seal him again, and the more fuel he has, the harder it's going to be."

"Italy's… mad?"

"We may or may not have agreed that it would be too risky to release him, since it would be difficult to control him. And there wouldn't be anything stopping him from destroying the entire world."

America grew paler.

"And… you released him?" America whispered.

Canada only smirked in reply.

He kind of expected it when America slammed him against the wall yet again. Didn't make it hurt less, though.

"Why?" America asked.

"I needed to repay Turkey and Russia for what they've done," Canada said. "And, now that I think about it, Cyprus and Lebanon need to pay too. After that… Let's just say, I'm taking a page out of the Joker's book."

"You want to watch the world burn…" America whispered.

"Something like that."

"And where does Quebec fit into all of this?"

"Panarus is powerful, but without a body…"

America didn't even need to be told any more, for he slammed Canada against the wall again. That was _really_ starting to get annoying.

"Why?!" America snarled.

"The only way that Panarus would be willing to help was to sacrifice someone connected to my land," Canada said. "And preferably not human. Quebec is the only one that fulfils that requirement."

"Is there a way to save him?"

Canada shrugged.

"I suppose you should be grateful that I put Quebec through all that," Canada said. "You see, Panarus feeds on suffering. The more a person experienced in their life, the longer their bodies will hold until they're completely burned out. And Quebec's entire existence is almost nothing _but_ suffering. His body will hold out longer than most. But I'm not sure how long."

America's face twisted in rage, and the grip around his throat tightened again.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," America said.

Canada smirked.

"Because I have a few nations in the Washroom," Canada said. "Have you heard of it? Their memories of being nations are being erased, and then I'm going to reprogram them. They'll be nothing more than mercenaries when I'm through."

"That's not a good reason to keep you alive," America said.

"They've already been there for a few days. And with Gupta dead, I'm the only one who knows how to change them back. _If_ you can convince me."

America narrowed his eyes.

"And how am I supposed to do _that_?" he asked.

"Try being creative for once," Canada said, a challenging smirk on his face.

…

Black had been joined by the other undead nations, and they were waiting for Adamastor to return with Ulimaroa. When the storm arrived with the continent, they all smiled in relief.

"Finally," Black said. "Ulimaroa, correct?"

"Yes," the continent said. "Now, I want to know what's happened with Australia."

The nations quickly explained all that had happened during the war, not leaving anything out. Including their own deaths. When they were finished, Ulimaroa sat there in silence.

"You want me to help you?" he asked at last.

"We would really appreciate it," Germany said.

Ulimaroa glanced around at each of the nations, before he sighed.

"As long as I can help Australia," he said. "What must I do?"

…

North and South Korea each received a text message before they heard the rumble of an engine. They were a little groggy from just waking up, and it took them a while to wake Philippines. Israel, on the other hand, had never gone to sleep.

They left the house they were using as a shelter, and Israel's jaw dropped.

"Isn't this the Osprey?" he asked.

"We copied the design," South said. "We figured that it would be useful someday."

The four made their way towards an area that was large enough to land the aircraft, and that was in fact what was happening. As soon as it touched the ground, the doors opened and a few of the nations inside came out.

"Hey there," Poland said, a smirk on his face. "I hope you haven't been waiting for too long."

"Just glad that you're here," South said, and the four quickly climbed into the aircraft.

Israel went in front, where he was to serve as the navigator. North and South joined their respective lovers, and while South and Switzerland shared a touching moment, Belarus tightly gripped North's hand. North looked towards their hands and saw that she was trembling slightly. But, she wouldn't be nervous about the attack.

Something else had happened, and he intended to find out what it was.

…

Norway jerked awake, eyes wide. It had been the first time that England had visited him in a while.

But that was irrelevant. He now knew that Amodi would attack in less than twenty-four hours. This was the day of a great battle. One that he hoped they'd survive.

 **I was looking for a helicopter/plane hybrid, and the top result was the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. There are a few nations interested in the Osprey, including India and South Korea (Israel too, but it wouldn't really matter much, since he wasn't a member of Amodi yet). So, I can see India and South analysing the aircraft and passing on the designs to the rest of Amodi.**

 **A while back I did some research in South African folklore (I had to tell the French students about some folklore), and there's one that's particularly interesting. Of course,** _ **everyone**_ **knows about the Flying Dutchman, but pretty much every source I've encountered mentioned that it has its roots in the Cape of Storms, and it's listed on a few sites of South African folklore. Basically, the ship became the ghost ship because of the storms. Which means that Adamastor was the one responsible for the Flying Dutchman. I'd actually thought of including the ship, but with none of their battles relying on naval attacks, it would be pretty difficult. And actually, near Australia is another place that the Dutchman is sometimes seen, so Adamastor's concern does make sense. And I think Van der Decken would recognise Adamastor's storms. And before you ask, no, I don't follow One Piece (Harmony's patience has a limit, and she doesn't think that she'd have the patience for One Piece… well, maybe the manga, but not the anime). But I think I need to look to it for research for Mermaid Hunt. On that note, can anyone direct me to a good book/fanfic regarding pirates? I'll check out the Pirates of the Caribbean archives another time.**

 **And yeah. Adamastor is a little frustrated that he can't cause enough storms at the moment. Though, he certainly made up for it last year (check on YouTube for the Cape storm, specifically anything by SABC around 7 June).**

 **And as I said, I started rereading this story and fixing mistakes. And I occasionally check on a chapter's reviews. Seeing the different supporters… If this was YouTube, then we might have World War Four in the comment section.**

 **And speaking of, a few reviews are about the torture I inflict on the characters. Something I haven't really written in a while… A good torture scene. Anyway, I originally laughed when I received a review expressing concern for my search history. All the torture… What made me laugh is the fact that I don't really look up torture techniques. Most of the torture scenes I come up with are from my own mind. No, the thing that takes up most of my search history for this story… maps. Honestly, geography isn't my forte.**

 **There was also an interesting review in the previous chapter about the Bonds of Amodi, and especially Canada. Both will be addressed soon. However, things might not go as anyone expected.**


	116. Chapter 115

**Thanks to eldwist, Harmony Houston, BlazeSilvermageVIII, SansTheLanguage218 and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 115**

America stared at Canada, his lips pressed in a thin line. Canada, for his part, had a relaxed look on his face. And America just wanted to punch the look off his face. Canada, despite having a hand wrapped around his throat, looked completely in control of the situation.

America also didn't know when, but Canada had gotten rid of his glasses. So the violet eyes were no longer hiding behind a wall of glass. America could see them clearly. And there was something in those eyes that didn't sit right with America. It wasn't quite madness, but it wasn't something that you normally saw in the eyes of someone in their right state of mind. America couldn't quite pin down what it was.

But he had something else to worry about. Canada had a number of nations being brainwashed, and – if he was to be believed – he was the only person that could undo their brainwashing. And the only person who knew where they were.

"How do I know you're speaking the truth?" America asked.

Canada shrugged.

"I guess there _is_ no way to find out," Canada said. "But are you ready to risk it?"

America bit his lip. While it would be risky, he supposed that he could try to save them on his own terms. After all, Canada couldn't be trusted. He had dealt with people being brainwashed before. He knew how to treat them.

Canada suddenly shuddered, attracting America's attention. Canada looked confused, and America felt a surge of happiness when he saw Canada gain that look.

"When did you get a _continent_?" Canada asked.

"What are you talking about?" America snapped.

Canada cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly.

"Yes, that's a continent," Canada said. "And… Damn. Looks like he's going to the Washroom. But we only have Antarctica, and if _you_ don't know anything about it…"

"Are you messing with me?" America asked.

Canada shook his head, and his face smoothed back into the relaxed expression of before.

"I told you to be creative," Canada said. "If you want to play the hero and save them."

America narrowed his eyes, and he removed a knife. Canada's eyes flickered towards it.

"I don't think I can trust anything you say," America said. "So, I guess I'll take my chances."

America pulled the knife back, but there was a small change in Canada's demeanour, easily missed. But America was looking at Canada's face, and so he could see what others might have missed.

The corner of Canada's mouth had twitched, but it wasn't the downwards twitch of a grimace. Instead, it almost looked as though Canada wanted to smile. There had also been a brief flash of triumph in Canada's eyes, something that America _did_ recognise. For a brief moment, Canada had looked like a completely different person.

As America continued to hesitate, he saw the look on Canada's face change again.

"You can't do it, can you?" Canada asked. "The _hero_ isn't able to defeat the villain. He's too scared to finish this, once and for all."

America didn't pay too much attention to the words. Instead, he paid close attention to the tone of voice, the facial expression and the eyes. The tone and the expression were smug, but the _eyes_ … They flashed with irritation and desperation. And the words were meant to provoke him. It was clear to America. And as he pondered the oddness of it all, something clicked into place, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. His eyes widened slightly at the realisation.

"You _want_ me to kill you," America whispered.

Canada's expression changed again. This time, the visage was completely blank. Like a porcelain mask. But no mask could completely hide everything. Even those masks that covered the entire face had to have eyeholes. And if one looked closely, one could see the person behind the mask.

And America realised what he had seen in Canada's eyes earlier. The desire to die, but not without dragging as many victims as possible along.

…

Somalia was staring at Ethiopia in shock. Ethiopia took the opportunity to down another shot.

Somalia was the one left behind while Libya and Eritrea went on the attack with the rest of Amodi, or at least the majority of them. And he had been prepared for a boring few days, but then Ethiopia returned. Somalia had asked what Ethiopia had been up to, and what he had said had shocked Somalia.

"S-so…" Somalia said, before swallowing thickly. "Panarus is free?"

"That's right," Ethiopia said.

"And Canada tried to use you as a sacrifice?"

"Right again. The bastard. I guess I should be lucky that he didn't want me."

"But that's still bad news. Does Italy or Poland know?"

"I called Italy."

"…And what about Diego?"

Ethiopia flinched, before he downed another shot. Somalia narrowed his eyes.

"Yared…" Somalia started.

"I didn't want to worry him!" Ethiopia said. "I didn't… I know he's having fun right now. He's been waiting for decades. I don't… I don't want to rob him of his fun."

Somalia sighed, shaking his head.

"And how do you think he would feel if he learns that you kept something like this from him?" Somalia asked.

Ethiopia flinched again, but before he could say anything, a buzz rang through the base. Someone was at the gate. Somalia frowned, before he went to check on who was at the gate. Ethiopia didn't bother with a shot, instead grabbing the nearest bottle.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he was suddenly pulled out of his reverie by a familiar, welcome voice.

"Yared!"

He spun around, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Diego?!" he asked.

Peru rushed over towards him, pulling him into a fierce embrace. Ethiopia inhaled the familiar scent as he was wrapped in his lover's arms.

"I came immediately," Peru said. "Italy told me what Canada tried to do. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ethiopia said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Ethiopia could hear the hurt in the Peruvian's voice, and he clung tighter to him.

"I didn't want to worry you," he said. "I also didn't want to interrupt your fun. I know how long you've waited."

Ethiopia felt Peru cup his cheek, before gently taking hold of his chin. His head was tilted up, and Ethiopia's eyes widened when he felt Peru press a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I think I've had enough fun," Peru whispered. "We've already gotten rid of everyone in South and Central America, as well as several of the Oceania nations. I should have returned to you earlier. I should have been with you when you went to Canada. And, had I known what he was planning to do to you… Ally or not, I would have killed him."

As he was speaking, Peru continued to pepper Ethiopia's face with kisses. Ethiopia smiled.

"What about that attack?" Ethiopia asked.

"You're more important to me," Peru said.

Watching the two of them, Somalia was a bit annoyed. He was the only African member of Amodi without a lover. It was bad enough that he had to see Libya and Eritrea enjoying each other's company. And now, he had to watch Ethiopia and Peru.

He heard a small sound from beside him, and he turned to see Lesotho standing there, staring at the scene with wide eyes. Somalia sighed.

"Come on, kid," Somalia said, turning Lesotho around and leading him away. "You don't want to see this."

…

America and Canada continued to stare at each other. Neither of them knew what to say. But the fact that Canada didn't deny the accusation already told America everything that he wanted to know.

"Why?" America whispered.

Canada's mouth twitched, before he chuckled bitterly.

"As much of an idiot you are," Canada said, "you can be annoyingly perceptive."

"Answer me!" America snapped.

"We've made many precautions to prevent betrayal," Canada said. "Since betrayal would be the most devastating weapon against us. One of the precautions prevents us from committing suicide."

America's eyes widened. Canada averted his gaze.

"I just want to join Gupta again," Canada said. "I want to see him again. I want to hold him close. Without him… This is _hell_."

America swallowed thickly.

"Then why go through with all of this?" America asked.

Canada chuckled again.

"Because I'm still loyal to Amodi," Canada said. "And it goes beyond just the Bonds. It goes beyond the opportunity to get revenge. Because they saw who I really was, and they _welcomed_ the real me. The Vikings left me behind when I was still a child, barely born. All because I took on the berserker aspect of the Viking culture before anything else. I was alone, stuck in the body of a small child, for hundreds of years. I was forced to pretend to be something that France wanted, just so that I didn't get left alone again. But Romano… He saw the real me. And he told me that I could join them. Everyone in Amodi… We all pretended to be something that we weren't. I was with nations that understood what it felt like, moulding yourself to fit the expectations of the nations on the outside. All of us were waiting for the chance to be ourselves again, knowing that no one else in the world would accept us, except for the rest of us. And I managed to find a lover through all of that."

"You said that Italy's mad at you," America said. "Explain."

"First off, I think he's mad at the fact that I released something that we all promised we would never do. Second, I think he's mad because I intended to use one of my allies as a sacrifice. Before I found out that Panarus only wants someone directly associated with me. In other words, Quebec."

America frowned.

"So, you betrayed Amodi," he said.

"In a way," Canada said. "I've been suffering from chest pains since I sent Ethiopia off to Egypt. But since the intended betrayal wouldn't have been _too_ severe… Because Gupta told me how to free Panarus's host. I always intended to free Ethiopia before Panarus completely drains him of energy. And then… I would have allowed Peru to snap at me."

"Huh?"

"We're aware of the fact that the Bonds can sometimes damage our mental states. That's why we need to have the presence of love. Because when tensions get too high… we lash out. It's called 'snapping'. Think of a rubber band that's been stretched too far. And it can't be helped. And without our lover… You've seen Liechtenstein recently, haven't you?"

America blinked in surprise, and Canada chuckled.

"When our lover is endangered, we're driven by an insatiable need to protect them, to avenge them, and to punish the ones that hurt them. You've seen it before with Belarus, if I'm not mistaken."

America remembered. When they had North Korea captured… She knew that North had gotten hurt, and even though it was self-inflicted, she was filled with an unspeakable rage that couldn't be stopped. I mean, how many people could throw _Russia_ like he was nothing?

"And when we _lose_ our lover…" Canada continued. "You have no idea what that does to us. The term used is 'unhinged'. We always knew that it was a possibility, but… Liechtenstein and I are the only ones that can be used as a definite example."

"What does Peru have to do with it?" America asked.

"Because, by trying to use Ethiopia as a sacrifice, I endangered him. If Panarus _did_ accept Ethiopia, then I would have placed Peru's lover in mortal danger. And Peru would have snapped at me… And _nothing_ would have prevented him from killing me. Ally or no, he _would_ have killed me."

America slowly shook his head, in too much of a state of shock to even _begin_ to understand Canada.

"I released Panarus because I know that he would have been a good weapon against the rest of the world," Canada said, smirking. "And the most likely to cause any of the others to snap at me. And as long as he's in Quebec's body, he'll stick to our deal and stay away from the Amodi nations. One just needs to know how to work with him."

"What do you mean?" America asked.

"The slightest hint of a weakness, and he would exploit it. If he thought that I cared about the other Amodi nations, he _would_ hurt them in a way that wouldn't go against our deal. I _could_ have turned him on myself, but I knew that it wouldn't work. I care too little for my people."

"That's one of the things I don't get about you. You're nations. You need to be loyal to your people. So, how can you just disregard it?"

Canada chuckled.

"I guess we all just got so bitter," he said. "Humans change their minds at a moment's notice. They are the ones that wish to hurt each other. They were usually the ones that started the wars. And they dragged us along. It didn't matter if we were friends or family, as long as they could wage war. And then they died, and we're left picking up the pieces the humans left us with."

"But you guys have hurt your friends and family, out of your own free will," America said. "Like Alaska."

Canada shook his head.

"To be fair, you showed little regard for me," Canada said. "You tried to turn me into your territory, after all. Because it was your 'destiny'. Just because we were born brothers didn't mean I owed you any type of loyalty. There was a time when I did genuinely try to form a connection with you, but you ruined those chances. But tell me something: You know about Spain's murder?"

"Yeah…" America said hesitantly.

"The South Americans could easily turn on Spain, because he treated them as objects, instead of people. And they wanted Portugal to be kept alive. Yes, he's useful, but above all… He treated Spain's colonies like people. He doted on them as much as he was allowed with Spain still having control. Something like that… There are too many nations that ignore the human aspect, and then you consider _us_ the monsters?"

America bit his lip.

"Are there really nations in the Washroom?" he asked.

"Yes," Canada said. "Australia, New Zealand, Namibia, Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria. They're meant to forget that they're nations, and then they would be conditioned to think that they're mercenaries loyal to Amodi."

"And when you told me that you could fix them…"

"I'm the only one that knows how. The Washroom had always been our responsibility."

America frowned.

"If necessary, I can put the CIA on the case," America said. "So I don't need you."

Canada shrugged.

"Are you going to kill me now?" Canada asked. "I even provided you with some information that I doubt you'd have gotten under normal circumstances."

"You think that I'll do you a favour because you did me a favour?" America asked.

Canada raised an eyebrow.

"Fine then," America said. "I just want to know one more thing."

"Go on," Canada said.

"You said that you know how to free the host of… whatever his name is. How?"

Canada chuckled.

"You've got all those Disney movies," Canada said. "You always _did_ have a thing for fairy tales. So, you tell me."

America's eyes narrowed, before widening, and then narrowing again in a completely deadpan expression.

"It _can't_ be… a kiss?" America said.

"Bravo," Canada said. "From someone that loves the host. So, good luck with Quebec."

America frowned, before raising his knife.

"As much as I hate giving you what you want," America said, "I know that I have to stop you."

And America plunged the knife in Canada's chest, before going through the motions of carving the heart out. And until he died, Canada laughed hysterically, getting what he wanted.

…

Antarctica's eyes widened, seeing the figure in front of him. He could recognise the presence in front of him, and until that moment, he had thought that he was the last of his kind.

"So, you're Antarctica," the stranger said. "I'm Ulimaroa, the continent of Australia. And I'm here to retrieve my nation."

Antarctica smirked. It would be interesting to compare the strengths of two different continents.

…

Every Amodi nation felt the Bonds sever. All of them knew that Canada had been killed. And so close to their imminent attack…

"Damn," Italy hissed. "What did the idiot do _this_ time?"

"This is bad," Romano said. "Canada was the largest landmass. And one of the strongest."

Italy looked over towards Romano, before his eyes trailed to Seborga. His brothers were worried. And that emotion extended to the rest.

"Canada's lands still belong to us," Poland said. "We can still draw power through that."

"Don't you care that we _lost_ someone?" Libya snapped.

"You haven't spoken to Canada recently," Italy sighed. "He was already lost to us. And he's in fact responsible for something that's going to give us trouble. I'll tell you about it when this battle is over. For now, we need to stay focused. We don't want any more losses."

The others looked uncomfortable, but they hesitantly retreated.

"Israel, how long until we reach our destination?" Poland asked.

"About two hours," Israel said.

"Enough time for the Bonds to heal," Italy said. "We need to be careful not to reveal the loss to our enemies. Understood?"

The others all nodded, and Italy's eyes honed in on Romano. His brother had been close to Canada. Romano was the one to recruit the Canadian, who recruited India. Romano and India had gotten together, partly because of Canada's influence. Just like how Romano had contributed to Canada and Egypt getting together.

But he was speaking the truth when he said that Canada had been lost to them. He didn't know how, but Canada had gotten very close to betraying an ally. He wanted to know _how_ it was possible.

 **Some of the things might seem random, but I've hinted a bit along the way. Like 'snapping'. Finland expressed concern that Romania was close to snapping, and near the beginning, Finland also explained the consequences of snapping. Italy also warned India against lashing out. And Peru and Ethiopia… Chapter 15. They didn't receive a lot of screen time together because Peru was on a murderous rampage with the rest of the South Americans, but when Italy told him what Canada tried to do to his lover, he decided that he's had enough of murderous rampages and went to see if Ethiopia was alright.**

 **And in the early chapters, there were mentions of precautions regarding betrayal. And North Korea expressed disdain towards suicide because you're no longer useful to the organisation. So, one of their precautions is that they're unable to commit suicide, which is why Canada and Liechtenstein, the two Amodi nations that want it, are so unstable. What they want more than anything, even more than revenge on the ones that killed their lovers, is to be with their lovers again. But they themselves are unable to do it. It's also made them a bit bitter at their own organisation, which prevents them from committing suicide in the first place.**

 **I actually envisioned another alternative to Canada's revelations about his true goals. I wrote it as a oneshot titled 'The Offer'. It also features different revelations.**

 **Diego and Yared are names I used in Game of Mirrors for the 2Ps of Peru and Ethiopia.**

 **Also, I think every South African is celebrating. Zuma resigned! Our crappy president is out! And hearing the news on French radio was somehow extremely satisfying. And the Zapiro comic that followed simply has the next words: The end of an error, with the 'f' replaced by a showerhead, something that Zapiro uses to signify Zuma. Let's just hope Cyril Rhamaposa is better.**


	117. Chapter 116

**Thanks to Harmony Houston, ShadowSnowflake13, SansTheLanguage218, Eternal Nexus Warrior and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 116**

Liechtenstein gasped in pain as the Bonds severed. This one was particularly painful.

Canada…

Liechtenstein was wandering around the streets of Trenton, looking for New Jersey. It was far more difficult without Puerto Rico helping her, but she still had her ways. She knew that the state was somewhere in his capital, only she wasn't sure _where_. And she had to admit that she didn't particularly like the people of this state. Killing them whenever she needed to get a fix on New Jersey's location was something she happily did.

But Canada's death… it was concerning, but also, she couldn't help but be a little happy for him.

The two of them have corresponded with each other for a while now. Canada was the only one that understood Liechtenstein's pain, and vice versa. And both of them had discussed their desires to join their lovers in the afterlife, but they still needed to make the ones responsible for their deaths pay for what they've done.

And Canada had sent her messages explaining what he had done in his attempts. She was meant to pass them along, in the event that he succeeded in his plan.

She supposed that he _had_ succeeded.

But it didn't matter right now. She needed to focus on her own goals. She needed to kill as many of America's states as possible.

…

Vatican was in his office, going through the security footage, as he was supposed to be doing. There wasn't much to see, and it was quite boring. All of their bases… Every significant room. And _nothing_ was happening.

The only remotely interesting sight was the Washroom. But their screams had faded long ago, and it was boring again.

"Maybe we should have gone with the main group?" San Marino suggested.

"We're not combatants," Vatican said. "And since this is our main base, _someone_ needs to take care of it. And, in case you've forgotten, we still have three prisoners."

"But, there's not much to do," San Marino whined. "Come on."

"Feliciano asked me to see if I can find anything at any of Canada's bases," Vatican sighed. "I'm not quite sure _what_ I have to look for, though…"

They were interrupted when they suddenly felt an intense amount of pain, and their black ribbons appeared on their hands. They exchanged a horrified look, knowing what it meant. An ally had been killed, and they immediately knew who it was.

"Canada," San Marino whispered.

Vatican's fingers started flying across the keyboard, looking for the Washroom, and also for any other cameras in that base. What they saw made them pause.

"Antarctica?" San Marino asked. "Who's he fighting with?"

"I don't know," Vatican said, "but it doesn't look like Canada's there."

Vatican searched through some of Canada's other bases, and he finally found Canada at his Montreal house. And they saw America standing over Canada, along with an unfamiliar woman.

"How could he…?" San Marino asked, eyes wide.

Vatican frowned, focusing on that camera and rewinding until America arrived. San Marino took a seat as they listened to the conversation. And the more they heard, the more horrified they became.

"Panarus?" San Marino whispered.

"Do you think Feliciano knows?" Vatican asked.

"Canada said that Feli's angry with him. And remember when he went into his room and didn't even let Feliks in? He snapped. And he made sure that he wasn't around any of us when that happened."

"And Canada… So, this is what being unhinged is like. I can't believe… But why would he tell America all of that?"

"Because America backed him into a corner," San Marino said. "Canada didn't say anything until America made that observation."

Vatican was silent for a moment.

"Do you think… He was trying to tell _us_?" Vatican asked.

"What?" San Marino asked.

"Canada was with me when we installed that camera," Vatican explained. "He _knew_ that there was a camera there. Of course, I haven't been paying as much attention to these as I should have…"

San Marino chuckled.

"You know, I never thought I'd hear any of us say something like that," San Marino said. "Especially someone like Canada. I didn't know we meant so much to him."

"None of us are being honest with each other regarding our emotions," Vatican said. "It's dangerous. We don't acknowledge our sense of camaraderie. This could lead to future problems."

"Not future. We're already dealing with things like this."

Vatican sighed.

"I'm archiving this," Vatican said. "I think everyone has noticed that our relationships aren't as strong as they used to be. We need to change that, before we bring about our own downfall."

"And I think it's important that everyone knows how dangerous it can be to become unhinged," San Marino said. "Even though he tried to betray one of our allies by his own admission, I can't help but feel sorry for him."

"Whether or not we feel sorry for him wouldn't matter. Feliciano and Feliks are the ones to judge him."

"Right."

…

Peru and Ethiopia were interrupted by the sudden severing of the Bonds. They gasped in pain, and they stared at each other when they realised who had been killed.

"Canada…" Ethiopia whispered.

Peru pulled Ethiopia into a hug.

"I can't say that I feel sorry for him," Peru said. "Not after what he tried to do."

"And all things considered… I think death is a mercy," Ethiopia said.

"What do you mean?"

" _You_ haven't seen what Canada has become. His eyes… they were completely insane, but they also looked completely dead."

"Still… He tried to hurt you. That doesn't earn him any sympathy from me."

"…Right."

"Come on. I want to make up for neglecting you. If you'll let me."

"Of course."

…

Norway waited until dawn arrived before he went around waking everyone. Since it was important, no one complained, and they all gathered in the centre of the village, which they used as their designated meeting space.

"So, what's up?" Taiwan asked.

"The attack is going to happen _today_ ," Norway said.

A solemn silence fell over the group.

"About time," Turkey said. "At least now we're prepared. Any idea _when_ today?"

Norway shook his head, before he looked to the west.

"It all depends on when they get here," he said. "England also told me which nations we can expect."

"Then let's hear how bad the damage is," Vietnam said.

"Poland and Italy are coming."

"The easiest way to end this war is to get rid of the two of them," France said, nodding his head.

"The former micronations – Hutt River, Wy, Seborga, Sealand, Kugelmugel and Ladonia."

"They are nations now," Germany said. "Hutt River and Wy inherited the lands of New Zealand and Australia – apparently, they decided that they can handle it."

"Seborga inherited a large part of my land," France said. "Along with Monaco's."

"Sealand took over England and Scotland, leaving enough room for Wales," Black said. "Likewise, Ireland and Northern Ireland are divided between the two of them."

"Kugelmugel inherited a large part of Austria's land, along with mine," Germany said. "And Ladonia inherited Sweden. So, even though they're new nations, they can still do a lot of damage. I also advise you to be careful of Seborga and Hutt River. The two of them are in a relationship, and it wouldn't be advisable to only eliminate one while the other remains. And since Seborga is Italy's younger brother, I'd be careful about him."

"Romano is also coming along," Norway said. "So, either we get rid of all of the Italy brothers, or we only get rid of Italy. Because they _will_ retaliate."

"And if we get rid of Romano, then we need to get rid of India too," Black said.

"Unfortunately, India's not coming. He's keeping an eye on their prisoners. Portugal and the others."

Netherlands clenched his fists, and Brazil and Madeira shared a look. Their families…

"Now that I think about it," Norway said, "going after Romano is a bad idea. Because if India loses Romano while being surrounded by prisoners that he can take his rage out on…"

"Got it," Michoacán said. "Avoid South, aim only for North."

"And on that note, both Koreas are coming. Along with Switzerland and Belarus."

"Please, leave Belarus to me," Russia said. "She is my responsibility."

Norway nodded, before looking towards Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia and Singapore.

"England told me that they used astral projection to gather information," Norway said. "They did it _before_ we moved China to America's location. Which means that they think that China is still in the house. And they'll go after him."

"Then they're going to have to deal with _us_ ," Vietnam said.

"Philippines will also be joining them."

"Please," Singapore said, "leave Philippines to me."

"Mexico and Confederacy will be coming as well," Norway said, looking at Michoacán.

"Good," Michoacán said. "It's time to finish this once and for all."

"Israel's coming."

Brazil, White and the Middle Eastern nations shuddered at the name.

"Libya and Eritrea are coming along as well," Norway said. "Keep in mind, those two are in a relationship. If you take out one, you'll need to take out the other."

White shuddered while Black snickered.

"Watching them from the other side…" Black said. "The only positive thing that came from that is that it annoyed Somalia, since he's still single."

"Peru was also _supposed_ to come," Norway said, "but something happened regarding Ethiopia, who's Peru's lover. England couldn't give me information about that, but it worried him. He mentioned that they're trying to find the Ancients to tell them about it, but… He wouldn't say any more on the subject."

"Of course," Madagascar said. "The living aren't really supposed to know about the afterlife."

"Right. So now, the only one of the South Americans coming is Argentina."

Brazil shuddered, his hand straying towards his shoulder. White grabbed his hand, and he looked at her in surprise before smiling gratefully. France was looking at them, smiling in approval.

"And finally, we have Finland and Romania," Norway said, looking uncomfortable.

Faroe and Greenland also looked uncomfortable, sharing a nervous glance between them.

"That's the vast majority of them," Turkey said. "The best-case scenario: we manage to kill them all. We have them outnumbered."

"Could you please direct me to the one time when our numbers gave us an advantage over them?" Yemen asked sarcastically.

"He's right," Russia said. "They may have fewer numbers, but that's never stopped them before. In fact, if gives _them_ more targets."

"Then it looks like we're discussing strategy," Germany sighed.

"That's right," Black said, smirking. "Because you have _us_ now. And trust me, we want to end this war, once and for all."

"Might I just add something?" France asked. "It's important, don't worry."

"Then by all means," Germany said.

"Their Bonds are the biggest source of their power. They can draw strength from each other, which is magnified in a way that one normally wouldn't have. Hate, love, and desire."

"We already know this," Oman said. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"These Bonds are not exclusive to Amodi. This is ancient nation magic. _All_ nations, as long as they're alive, can forge these Bonds."

It took them a moment to process what France was saying, and once they did, they all reacted with some surprise and excitement.

"You mean, we can do what they do?" Catalonia asked.

"Of course," France said. "And these Bonds form naturally. One just needs to know how to tap into it. White, Brazil, would you mind clasping each other's right hands?"

The two turned to each other, and did as France asked.

"Now, focus," France instructed.

For a while, nothing happened, but then they saw red threads wrap around their hands. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw this, and they also noticed that the threads seemed to be connected to a few of the onlookers, most notably Netherlands, while one disappeared to the west.

White had a blush on her face as she turned to France again, choosing to ignore the grin on Black's face.

"These are the most obvious Bonds," France said. "And it helps balance out the _other_ one. Everyone, try focusing on your left hands."

They did as told, and this time black threads appeared, connecting all of them. It formed a web among them, and they were surprised by this fact.

"All of you hate Amodi," France explained. "Almost all of you have been victimized in some way. Some of you have been attacked, while others had lost loved ones."

Slovenia bit his lip, and some of the others clenched their fists. Those that clenched their right fists noticed that a yellow thread appeared around their wrists, and without prompting from France, they all summoned the yellow threads.

"I see you don't need my help realising your desires," France remarked. "All of you wish to see Amodi defeated. This is how it shows itself."

"This means that we have to be careful, doesn't it?" Greece asked.

"Well, of course you need to be careful. But… While losing someone would physically hurt the members of Amodi, that is not the case for you. You're not as dependent as Amodi in regards to your Bonds. Though they still have a lot of land to draw power from, this _should_ give you an edge."

"The situation is getting better and better," Germany said with a smirk. "So, what else have you planned?"

"Well, if we can only get our hands on one of those guns…" Lebanon said.

"Leave it to me," Black said. "Just make sure that the snipers have cover."

"On that note…" Germany said.

…

America had asked Pele to take him to the Washroom. Since Pele had a list of names of nations that were there, it was easy for her.

However, they were _not_ prepared for the sight that greeted them when they first arrived. There was a battle going on, and judging by the black ribbons around the left hand of one of the participants, he was a member of Amodi. The other one… Neither of them was sure if he was a friend or foe.

Canada had mentioned that Antarctica was keeping watch over the prisoners. Which meant that one of the combatants was Antarctica. But… who was the other one?

The one with the ribbon was pinned to the ground, looking as though he was having some difficulty. The one pinning him turned to America and Pele, snarling at them.

"Who the hell are you?!" he snarled.

Before America could answer, the pinned one seemed to recognise him.

"America!" he exclaimed, face twisting in hatred.

The pinner was thrown off the pinned, and the pinned – whom they assumed to be Antarctica – lunged towards America, but the other tackled him to the ground again.

"Are you a friend of Black?" the stranger asked.

"Y-yeah," America said. "Um, I'm here to rescue the nations…"

"Fine," the other interrupted. "Enemy of my enemy…"

Antarctica snarled, before grabbing the other's cheek. The skin turned blue as Antarctica tried to freeze him, and the other retaliated by grabbing Antarctica's wrist, where the skin turned red until the two pulled away from each other.

"I _think_ we should save those nations," Pele said, watching the battle. "While the enemy is distracted."

America nodded mutely, before they set out searching for the Washroom. It was actually easy to find, since the wall was a glass window. They quickly rushed in, and America started working on shutting off the machines. Once that was done, he started to work on freeing the nations.

Pele watched the fight, cocking her head to the side.

"Both of them are continents," she said.

"Really?" America asked, a bit distracted.

"It's different from how nations feel. And Canada _did_ mention something about us having a continent."

"Oh, so _that's_ what he meant."

Once free, the nations that were bound to the chairs started to move. America made sure to remove the helmets over their heads as well, and he allowed them to move on their own terms. Once that was done, he looked around at all of them.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked.

The nations looked around in a daze, before fixing on him.

"W-who are you?" New Zealand asked. "Y-you look like the other one, b-but…"

America felt his stomach twist when he realised that none of them knew who he was.

"I'm the hero," he said softly. "And I'm here to save you."

…

Israel smirked, looking out in front of him. He turned to Eritrea, who was acting as pilot.

"There," he said, pointing towards a plateau.

Eritrea smirked, before turning around to announce to the others that their destination was in sight.

"Excellent," Italy said. "Prepare the packages."

Israel frowned. He didn't like the idea that White might get hurt by one of _those_ , but they assured him that it wouldn't kill anyone. These were normal. They would just hurt, and make it easier to capture or kill their enemies.

…

Everyone was making the final preparations when they heard the familiar sound of an aircraft approaching. They froze, turning towards it as it came closer. Their eyes widened by what they saw.

"Oh no," Japan said. "The Osprey… America won't be happy when he sees they copied his design."

"It's still too high up," Vietnam said. "What are they…?"

She was interrupted by objects falling from the aircraft, and all the nations recognised them. They had seen enough of them, after all.

"Bombs!" Turkey shouted. "Everyone, get to safety!"

They scrambled, trying to get into the partially finished houses. They would offer better protection than the shacks, and wouldn't send as much shrapnel flying. Unfortunately, some of them were a bit too slow, and as the bombs landed and detonated, some nations were sent flying from the force, and some screamed in pain.

The aircraft was descending, and once it landed and the nations inside exited, the battle would begin.

 **Sorry if the last few scenes seem rushed. I wanted to have this particular ending. But it's** _ **finally**_ **time for the battle.**


	118. Chapter 117

**Thanks to i'm overthinking, Harmony Houston, Terra, Inky-Paws and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 117**

The Amodi nations stepped out of the aircraft, examining the area. They were in the middle of the 'village', with informal shacks the closest to them and better-constructed, though incomplete houses a bit further away. Most of the shacks had been blown away by the bombs, but they didn't really care. They were more focused on the few human figures they saw.

"Well, well," Libya said, smirking. "Looks like Palestine and Gaza were a bit too slow."

The two regions struggled slightly, widening their eyes. Israel cocked his head to the side, and he approached the two, removing a revolver. They froze, staring at Israel with fear clear in their eyes.

"It's about time for us to finish this," Israel said.

"N-no," Gaza whimpered.

Israel smirked, before pulling the trigger. Gaza yelped as Palestine was shot in the head, and tears filled his eyes as he stared at Israel. Israel smirked, and he adjusted his aim to Gaza.

"Don't even think about it!"

Israel's eyes widened, and everyone in Amodi turned their attentions to the speaker, seeing a nation that should not have been there. To say that they were shocked would be an understatement.

"Germany?" Italy questioned.

Germany glared at them, and everyone looked alarmed.

"You didn't expect for _us_ to be back, did you?"

France stepped out from behind Germany, and Seborga especially looked worried. Italy recovered first, and he turned to Romania, barking something in their creole. Romania jumped, and he frantically nodded his head.

 _Figure out who did this._

"How is this possible?" North demanded.

"It seems that you aren't as prepared as you think."

Madagascar stepped into view as well, and the Amodi nations seemed to grow more alarmed. None of them noticed that someone was sneaking about behind them, pilfering one or two of their firearms. Black was being very careful. While it might have been a good idea to completely unarm them, they might notice him before he managed to get the weapons to the designated snipers.

"Who else?" Poland asked, his voice cold.

Afghanistan and Jordan came into view, and Romania and Finland shifted their eyes around, looking for more nations.

Israel growled, moving his gun and firing at Germany. The German smirked at them, ignoring the bullet buried in his chest. This made most of the Amodi nations take a nervous step back. Italy, Poland, Romania and Finland only narrowed their eyes.

"You can't torture us," France said simply. "And you can't kill us."

"And you can't heal," Italy interrupted. "First off, did you _honestly_ think that we hadn't experimented with necromancy before?"

Most of the nations were surprised, including the other members of Amodi, save for Poland, Finland and Romania. Afghanistan was the first to recover.

"If that's the case, then why haven't you done it for your own allies?" she demanded.

"Because _we_ wouldn't submit our allies to that torture," Romania said firmly. "After seeing if it could be done, we paid _close_ attention to the psychological effects." Romania smirked. "And we came to a few conclusions: That it's immoral, that it's selfish, that it's twisted, and that the experience is a torture we don't want to subject our allies to."

"So congratulations," Poland said. "You did something that even _we_ consider to be a line that shouldn't be crossed. Or, should I say, your _allies_ crossed that line."

"I'm surprised that you're not all whimpering messes," Finland said.

Germany gritted his teeth, and France looked alarmed. Jordan clenched her fists.

"I suppose it helps that we have a purpose," Jordan said. "And our purpose is to put an end to your reign."

"And I suppose that you would want revenge for killing you," Romania said.

"That would certainly be a bonus," Madagascar said.

While they were distracted, Gaza took the opportunity to scramble away. His right leg had gotten injured when the bombs fell, and so he couldn't properly escape. He needed to take advantage of the distraction. And he wasn't the only one. A few other nations that had been injured – but yet to be noticed by Amodi – were also taking the opportunity to scurry away and get to safety.

Black had managed to get a few weapons, and he was working for one last gun. However, the nation that he was trying to steal from was Romano, another pickpocket. Romano's eyes widened, and he spun around, grabbing Black's wrist. Black's eyes widened and Romano's eyes narrowed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Romano hissed.

The other Amodi nations noticed Black's presence, and Italy sneered.

"So, you tried to rob us of our weapons?" Italy said, noticing the weapons that Black held. He turned to the other revived nations, who tensed. "And you provided the distraction. Clever, but it's over now." He turned to his fellow Amodi nations. "They can't feel anything, and they can't heal. So, make sure they can't fight. Make sure that they can't even move!"

"Got it," South said, glaring at the revived nations.

Romano smirked, yanking Black closer before grabbing his throat. Black only growled as Seborga grabbed him from behind, and Hutt River grabbed the weapons that Black had pilfered. Those that had noticed that Black had stolen from them grabbed their weapons before turning their attentions to France's group.

"Looks like it's game time," Italy said.

…

Pele took America and the rescued nations back to the camp, and the other nations were immediately by their sides.

"What happened?" Thailand asked.

"We took the opportunity to get them out of the Washroom," America said. "Louisiana, get them some food. They've been in that room for a few days."

Louisiana nodded, before retreating to one of the houses. The others all moved to help them.

Serbia bit his lip, and he looked around at the others. The new arrivals were all dazed, and they helped them sit down in a circle.

"Who are all of you?" Australia asked.

" _That's_ not good," Pakistan remarked.

"Guys," Serbia said, "give them some room to breathe."

The others all glanced towards Serbia, before taking a few steps back. The new arrivals turned to Serbia as he sat down with them.

"First, I'd like you to tell me everything you know," Serbia said. "Anything. We only want to help you."

New Zealand frowned, before he shook his head.

"I don't know anything," New Zealand said. "I know that there was this man with purple eyes. He looked a lot like _him_." He pointed towards America. "He scared me."

"Canada," Serbia said. "I know. He's dangerous."

"Not anymore," America muttered.

Serbia shot him a glare, silently telling him to shut up. America averted his eyes.

"Is there anything else that you would like to tell us?" Serbia said.

The nations frowned in confusion. After a while, Cameroon cocked his head to the side.

"We're not… human," Cameroon said.

"Right," Serbia said. "You aren't human. You're nations given human form. We're nations as well."

"Nations?" Kenya asked.

Serbia nodded.

"I know that it might be hard to believe," Serbia said. "But it's the truth. We're on your side, and we'll help you recover."

Before anyone could say anything, Louisiana returned, carrying a tray with a large plate of sandwiches. The new arrivals instantly focused on the sandwiches, and Serbia nodded his head.

"Good idea," Serbia said. "And afterwards, I think you should get some sleep. Is that okay with you?"

Namibia was the one that nodded her head.

"I feel so tired," Namibia said. "I think I'd like to sleep."

"Then get something to eat, and get some rest," Serbia said. "We'll see how you feel later, okay?"

They nodded, and as Serbia stood, they started helping themselves to the sandwiches. Serbia moved towards the others, who looked at him with some respect.

"You seem to know how to deal with them," Pakistan said.

"I recently recovered from a lobotomy," Serbia said. "The few times I managed to see my reflection… That's the same expression that they have. I know what it's like to have Amodi messing around with your mind."

"We at least managed to get to them in time," America said. "Canada said that they were going to be completely reprogrammed. He was working on their memories first, and then he was going to turn them into Amodi's mercenaries. But Canada didn't get that far."

"…There's something about that that you're not telling us," Massachusetts said.

"When they follow Serbia's advice and go to sleep," America said. "I don't want to talk about it with them. Not yet."

"Excluding them is not a good idea," Serbia said. "Then again, we can't overwhelm them. It looks like their amnesia is their biggest issue. Once we've established just how much they remember, we can work from there."

"Yeah," America said. "I've dealt with brainwashed people before. We need to take things slowly. We'll need to pay close attention to them. Also, I don't think they've had a chance to eat or sleep since Canada strapped them into those machines. Sleep deficiency is a good tool for brainwashing."

"He's right," Pakistan said. "We need to give them some time to rest. There's nothing else we can do for now."

"There's something else," America said. "Antarctica was there, and he was fighting with someone. I think… it's another continent, but I have no idea who it could be."

"A _continent_?" Nepal asked. "Do you think he's on our side?"

"I hope so."

…

The Amodi nations had followed Italy's instructions and started engaging the revived nations in battle. Poland had immediately gone after Germany – apparently, he was a still a little bitter about the time Italy pretended to latch onto the German.

Italy, meanwhile, had chosen to engage France. Italy was carrying a sword, and France had somehow gotten one as well, and the two were trading blows.

"It's not your usual rapier," Italy said. "And you can't adjust the weight."

"I'll manage," France said, lunging.

Libya had gone after Afghanistan, and Argentina had chosen Jordan as her prey. Eritrea went after Madagascar, and Sealand had chosen Black as his victim.

"I see you've grown," Black remarked. "England's land must be treating you well."

"How _is_ the jerk, by the way?" Sealand asked.

"He can't wait for you to get what you deserve."

"Then it all depends on what he thinks I deserve."

Black gritted his teeth as he and Sealand wrestled. The former micronation had grown stronger, along with taller. And Black, like the other revived nations, couldn't properly control their old bodies. It was hard to move sometimes, and even harder to fight. They also couldn't properly react to outside influences, and thus couldn't adjust themselves. They couldn't properly adapt to their opponents.

And it seemed as though Amodi was catching on.

Black had managed to hide one of the guns, in case he was discovered. The only problem was, he couldn't get it to one of their snipers. Unless their allies decided to come out.

The Amodi nations not currently engaged in battle seemed to think of the same thing, for they started fanning out, stepping past the battle. They were looking around at the surrounding buildings, trying to pinpoint their enemies' locations.

They had hoped that Amodi would have been distracted long enough for Black to get the weapons and deliver them to at least one sniper before Amodi decided to attack. They wanted to avoid the loss of life.

But things didn't always work out that way, did they?

Israel looked down at his right hand, before focusing his attention on one of the houses. He knew _exactly_ where White was, and he had every intention of getting her back. And anyone that tried to stop him…

Israel would _not_ have mercy.

Romania cast a quick spell, before turning to one of the houses. He turned to Finland and nodded, and the two started to approach it. They needed to find Norway, and Romania had every intention of keeping Norway unharmed. They had more important things to worry about than punishment. Though, only Romania knew it between the two of them.

North, South and Philippines headed towards the large house, the only one that had been completed. Belarus said that China was in there, and they wanted to get rid of China once and for all. Belarus tried to follow, but someone else came into view.

It surprised them all a bit that the first nation to decide to come out of hiding was Russia.

"Natalya," Russia said, "let's finish this."

She growled, but grinned.

"Gladly," she said, removing a sword. "Say 'hi' to Katyusha for me."

To her surprise, Russia didn't remove his pipe, but instead held out his own sword. She narrowed her eyes.

"Where did you get _that_?" she demanded.

"Syria," Russia said, a smirk on his face. "Now, let's see if Damascus steel is as good as they say it is."

Switzerland stared after the running Asians, but when he noticed Russia come out from his cover, he started scanning the area, trying to see if there would be anyone else.

His eyes widened when he saw Turkey charging at him with a sword, and he quickly grabbed the sword he kept at his own waist, blocking just in time.

"I see that most of you came with swords," Turkey said.

"Of course," Switzerland said. "We wondered how many of you would be armed, and so we decided to bring along as many weapons as we could. We realised that Norway could have warned you about our attack, and so we decided not to take a chance. But I have to admit, you _did_ surprise us with your zombies."

"Did you _really_ perform experiments with bringing them back?"

"I don't know. This was the first time I've heard of it myself. Then again, the protocol for experiments is to only broadcast successful results. We don't want anyone to get false hopes."

"…You _do_ realise that you're fucked in the head, right?"

" _We're_ not the ones having walking corpses fight for us."

"…Bastard."

Mexico was looking around, carrying an axe. Confederacy had a shotgun strapped to her back, scanning the area as well.

They both jumped when they heard the sound of a gunshot, and Mexico gritted her teeth when the bullet imbedded itself in her arm. She glared at the direction it came from, and her face twisted in a snarl.

"Milessia," she said. "I think it's time for us to finish this."

"Do you want me to come along?" Confederacy asked.

"No. I can handle the brat myself."

"…Alright. Please, be careful."

"Don't worry about me. _You_ be careful."

…

Panarus cocked his head to the side, looking over towards the south-east. He could sense a battle between many nations. He grinned. This battle was not something that he was going to miss.

…

"We need to get out there," Faroe muttered, peeking out of the window.

"I agree," Greenland said. "This is a good chance to get back at them for killing Denmark. Because even though he was an arrogant asshole, he was at least _nice_."

"And didn't threaten to kill us."

Norway glanced over towards the other two. They had chosen to go to the same building. Both of the regions were armed with harpoons, while Norway himself had gotten a broadsword.

They had taken advantage of General Winter and Adamastor's abilities to instantly travel somewhere in order to build their armoury, with some nations having specific requests. Both Faroe and Greenland were familiar and comfortable with the harpoon, while Norway was used to a wide variety of weapons. He also had a few daggers strapped to his belt.

They froze when the front door was slammed open, and they all felt a jolt of fear when they realised that Romania and Finland were the ones standing at the door. Norway was the one that recovered first, and he immediately brought his sword down on Romania, who was closest. His strike was blocked by Finland, wielding his own sword. Romania took a step back as Norway pulled away, before striking again, and Finland cursed.

"Great," Finland muttered. "He's a berserker."

"Damn," Romania said, before glancing over towards Faroe and Greenland, who decided to use the opportunity to attack him with the harpoons.

Romania held out his hand, using his magic to pin Faroe and Greenland to the wall. He glanced over towards Finland and Norway, seeing that Finland was having a harder time than expected against the berserk Nordic. Romania narrowed his eyes, before using his magic against Norway. He pinned him against the wall next to Faroe and Greenland, though he had to shift his feet a bit in order to stabilize himself. Norway, as a berserker, was _not_ easy to keep back.

Romania noticed something around Norway's left hand, and he sighed in frustration when he realised what it was. Apparently, their enemies now knew how to tap into the bonds between nations.

"Come on," Finland said. "Let's finish this."

"Wait," Romania said. "I want to know two things. First, who was the one that performed necromancy? And second, who else can use magic in your group?"

Greenland and Faroe narrowed their eyes, though Romania could see a hint of panic. He deduced that _they_ were the ones to do so. He turned his attention to Norway, and sent a bit of energy towards him to calm him down. It took a while, but eventually Norway sagged, breathing heavily. He still looked angry, but now there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

"We're not going to hurt you," Romania said. "So just tell us."

"Not going to hurt us?!" Greenland repeated. "Why don't I believe that?"

Romania sighed, glancing towards Finland, who was looking at him oddly. Romania looked back towards Norway, trying to figure out what to say.

"…We nations of Amodi have been aware of a serious threat to the world, that's been locked away," Romania said. "It's been released, and I'm asking for your help to send it back."

 **Regarding Amodi's experiments… Romania and Egypt performed those experiments, while Canada and Finland helped them (being their lovers and all). Italy and Poland know because they're the leaders, and the ones who had ordered the experiments in the first place.**

 **One of Amodi's goals is to show the other nations that they weren't much different. That they didn't really have the moral high ground. It's one of the methods used to break their enemies' spirits.**

 **Seeing the leaders' confidence when confronted with the revived nations helped assure the other Amodi nations. And when they realised that all of it was a distraction, they recovered from their shock.**


	119. Chapter 118

**Thanks to Harmony Houston, TooShyToReview, SoulTea2000, SansTheLanguage218 and Inky-Paws for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 118**

"Why should we help you?!" Norway snarled.

Romania sighed in frustration. He knew that this wouldn't be easy.

"The more nations that can cast the spell, the easier it would be to send it back to its prison," Romania said. "Wales, Belarus and I are already prepared to cast the spell, but it won't be enough. I really miss Egypt, and not only because of the magic. But the prison was in _his_ land. And with Canada dead as well, we'll need to figure out who gets saddled with it _now_."

Faroe, Greenland and Norway stopped struggling for a moment, surprised to hear that Canada was dead. Finland turned to Romania, his eyes narrowed slightly, but he looked more confused and annoyed than angry.

"Why would you tell them that?" Finland asked. "And what are you talking about?"

Romania glanced towards Finland and sighed.

"Remember when Italy said that Canada did something 'royally stupid'?" Romania asked. "He released Panarus."

Finland was silent for a moment, before turning to Norway.

"We're open to negotiations," Finland said. "Anything to get you to help us put that thing away."

Norway narrowed his eyes.

"I don't suppose that you'd be willing to call off this attack?" Norway asked.

"Not that," Romania said. "We've been looking forward to this. The fact that Italy didn't cancel this when he learned about Panarus is evidence that he's not going to buy it."

"What _is_ this… Panarus anyway?" Greenland asked.

"Suffice it to say, it's disaster personified," Finland said. "Natural disaster, war, anarchy… You name it, Panarus _is_ it."

"Hold up," Norway said. "How do you know all of this?"

"Asides from our experiments," Romania said, "we also have the accounts of the Ancients. Even those that preceded Rome, Ancient Egypt, Persia…"

"You may consider us sociopaths, but we're _nothing_ compared to what Panarus is capable of. Nature bows to its will."

"I can't help but notice how you refer to Panarus as _it_ ," Faroe said.

"It doesn't have a body," Romania said. "And has to make do with… _sacrifices_. And the more the sacrifice has suffered in their life, the longer they last, but in the end, they'd be burned out, unable to continue to the afterlife. Even for a nation, it's a terrifying concept. To have your existence completely wiped out, with even your soul lost forever…"

The three pinned to the wall gulped nervously. They realised that the two Amodi nations were _terrified_ of Panarus, and the descriptions…

"And having Panarus decide to personally kill you has similar results," Romania continued. "So, will you help us?"

"And what happens afterwards?" Norway asked. "We help you, and you kill us?"

"Like we said," Finland said, "we're willing to negotiate. We're not ungrateful bastards."

"And Italy and Poland also agree that they're willing to reward you for your help," Romania said. "If you wouldn't help us based on your morals."

"Of course!" Greenland said. "If this Panarus is really as bad as you make it out to be, then it's only natural that we'd want to get rid of it."

"But we can't ignore the fact that we're enemies," Faroe said. "And that you killed many nations. Including our brother."

Romania bit his lip, before nodding his head.

"Fair enough," Romania said. "But what if we create a contract that will prevent us from killing you, _if_ you help us get rid of Panarus? And the contract would be magically binding, of course."

"We'll even throw in something as a 'thank you'," Finland said. He turned to Norway. "What if we give you Oslo?"

The three pinned nations widened their eyes. Finland walked closer, before he stood in front of Norway.

"We'll give you your capital back," Finland continued. "And we'll help you become a city-state. With that, you become a nation again."

Norway's eyes widened even further, and Finland cocked his head to the side, a small smile on his face.

"Help us get rid of Panarus, and we'll give that to you," Finland said. "You get your heart back, and with that, your previous immortality."

Norway was silent, and the two Amodi nations waited patiently. Faroe and Greenland were also staring at Norway. Everyone present knew that it was an opportunity that Norway couldn't let slip.

"And then I'm going to be a prisoner yet again," Norway said. "You're not going to let us simply go, are you?"

"Lukas!" Greenland exclaimed. "I think you should take the offer."

"What?"

"We all know that you're vulnerable the way you are now. And we can all see that you're not okay with not being a nation anymore. We saw you when Serbia regained his nation status. We know you well enough to know that it bothered you."

"Please," Faroe said. "We just want what's best for you. Even if we end up as prisoners, it's better than being corpses. Or worse. You yourself admitted that what you're going through is _worse_ than death. And they're willing to at least give you _something_. While it's not your entire country, it's better than nothing. And maybe you'd be able to work your way up. Expand your borders."

"And even if we _do_ end up as prisoners, we can always change that. _You_ managed to escape. Brazil managed to escape. White managed to escape. We'll just take the opportunity if it presents itself."

Finland and Romania remained silent, though it was clear that they weren't so thrilled about the escape discussion. They were willing to let this go on, as long as Faroe and Greenland managed to convince Norway to help them with their goals.

Norway bit his lip, before fixing his attention on Finland and Romania.

"You said you're willing to create a contract," Norway said. "I'd like to negotiate the terms."

"Sure," Romania said. "Name them."

…

Israel made his way to the house, and he knew that White was in there. He wondered if she was alone, and if not, he wondered who was with her. If it was Brazil…

Israel clenched his fists. He didn't want her to be alone with _him_. And he knew that Romano especially wanted Brazil to be captured again. Alive. Italy and Poland also wanted Brazil. They wanted to punish him for escaping. And although Israel would have preferred to kill Brazil, he would have to settle for harming him. After all, he hadn't been told to capture _unharmed_.

Knowing that White and whoever was with her (if someone _was_ with her) would be prepared for any of the Amodi nations to come along, Israel would need to be careful. If they were prepared, then there was a chance that they would immediately attack. And he would have to be prepared for that in turn.

Gripping his gun in one hand and a short sword in the other, he carefully pushed aside the board that they were using as a door (apparently they hadn't gotten around to building an _actual_ door yet). And almost immediately, he saw the thing that made him want to boil in rage.

White was there, along with Brazil. And Brazil was standing protectively in front of White. Once Brazil saw Israel he scowled, an expression that was mirrored by the Middle Eastern nation.

"I should have known that _you_ would be near her," Israel said, eyes quickly shifting towards White. "I hope you haven't touched each other. And considering your reputation, Brazil…"

Brazil scowled, and Israel took a moment to assess the situation. Brazil had a dagger in his hand, while White carried a handgun. There was also a rifle nearby, which Israel suspected was also White's weapon. He would need to be careful of _her_ deciding to shoot him. He didn't want to hurt her. And, while her bullets would only slow him down, _his_ could kill her.

With that in mind, Israel put his own revolver away, but kept the short sword. The other two noticed this movement.

"Anika, put your weapon away," Israel said.

She frowned, but kept it in her hand. He sighed.

"I have no intention of hurting you," Israel said, before turning his attention to Brazil. " _Him_ , on the other hand…"

Brazil tensed, before assuming a defensive stance.

"There's no way I'm giving you the chance," Brazil said.

"Consider yourself lucky that Poland wants you _alive_ ," Israel said. "Though no one told me that you had to be _unharmed_ …"

The two males glared at each other, neither moving, save for the subtle shift in stance. They were ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice, and it was clear that Brazil was a little worried about the different blades. Brazil needed to get a lot closer than Israel if he wanted to land a blow.

White glanced between the two of them before reluctantly putting the gun away. The room they were in wasn't very large, and if they were going to fight in close combat, she would need to place some distance between her and them. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to shoot Israel, due to the possibility of accidentally harming Brazil, which would give Israel the advantage that he needed. And she wasn't really willing to _hurt_ Israel either.

If only she could get a hold of Israel's gun…

She jumped slightly when the two started to fight, and she could only hope that the gun would somehow fall from Israel's pocket. Though, _why_ did he have to wear cargo pants?

…

Philippines and the two Koreas entered the largest – and the sole complete – house in this 'village'. As soon as they entered, the Koreas noticed that it was _definitely_ China's decorating in this house, and though they hated the nation, they couldn't help but admit that he had good taste for interior decorating. He was, of course, an avid believer in feng shui.

"Come on," North said. "Nat told me that his room is the closest to the left."

The three went towards the room, only to find it completely empty. South turned to North.

"Did Nat make a mistake?" South asked.

"Not at all," a familiar voice said from behind them. "We just managed to get China to a safe location."

The three didn't immediately turn around, easily recognising the voice. They felt annoyance, but waited a moment so as not to act impulsively as they turned to face Japan, who was accompanied by Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.

"Looks like we have to settle for _you_ then," North said.

"How did you manage to get him out of here?" South said. "And how did you know?"

"For the second question," Vietnam said, "we didn't. We have allies on our side that are able to instantly travel to any destination. We decided to take all the non-combatants to safety. And that includes China."

"Clever," North said. "You relocate the vulnerable nations, eliminating the need to protect them and allowing you to focus on your opponents."

The two groups remained still for a few moments, each nation analysing their opponents, and subconsciously trying to decide which nation they wanted as their own opponent. Philippines quickly took note of the fact that Singapore was eyeing her darkly, and shifted her attention to the other. Both understood that they would be opponents as soon as the battle commenced.

North and South were lightly touching their hands together, trying to determine which one of them would take Japan as his opponent. Seeing that Japan tended to glance between both of them, they realised that Japan's gaze lingered longer on South, and so they decided that South would be the one to take care of Japan.

Once all of the nations decided on who their opponents would be, they all struck.

…

Louisiana shook her head, coming out from one of the houses. She turned to the others, who were waiting eagerly. She was the one to take the rescued nations to a place to sleep, and they wanted to know how it went.

"They had no trouble falling asleep," Louisiana said. "They must have been _really_ tired. But it bothers me that it was so easy. I mean… They should be more nervous."

"It's because their minds aren't functioning properly," Serbia said. "Something's been disconnected, and it's going to take a while before it recovers. At this point, they're willing to do whatever anyone else asks, as long as the person does it gently."

"Speaking from experience?" America asked.

Serbia nodded, to which everyone else winced. America immediately looked guilty, realising that Serbia _did_ speak from experience, but not from dealing with someone like that, but _being_ someone like that.

"Sorry," America muttered.

Serbia gave a small smile, showing that he didn't harbour any hard feelings due to America's faux pas. Nepal cleared his throat.

"Perhaps we can try helping them with their memories?" Nepal suggested. "They have to be _somewhere_ in their minds. Memories can't simply be erased."

"You're right," America said. "But we don't really know the methods that Amodi uses with those machines. I tried taking a peek, but… Let's just say, it was _not_ easy to understand."

"We'll try the simplest way," Thailand said. "By getting them things that they love."

"You have a point. Exposing them to things with an emotional attachment would help bring their memories back. Only problem is, _what_ do we get for them? Because I don't know any of them well enough."

"Namibia would do well with a barbeque," Serbia said.

"What makes you say that?" Massachusetts asked.

"I spent some time with White at the other camp. I remember her complaining about wanting a barbecue, and she went on this long rant about it. Apparently, she would often have parties like that with her neighbours. And _who's_ one of her neighbours?"

"Namibia!" Pakistan exclaimed, smiling. "Even if it's not her favourite thing, it _should_ bring back some memories, right?"

"I'm all for it!" America said, grinning happily.

"I think it might be a good idea to do it Texan style," Louisiana said. "Do it as big as possible."

"I'm all for it!"

"I think I might also have an idea for New Zealand and Australia," Pakistan said. "Though, it involves getting a hold of two of the most horrifying things in the universe."

"What could you _possibly_ have in mind?" America asked worriedly.

"You'll see," Pakistan said, though not without shuddering.

…

Outside the houses, the battles kept raging. It took a while for anyone to register the fact that the wind had picked up, or that the temperature had dropped significantly. It wasn't until the first lightning bolt hit right behind Italy that anyone took notice.

"What the…?" Italy whispered, before looking to the sky.

Two figures could be seen hovering in the sky, and everyone recognised General Winter, while only the non-Amodi nations recognised Adamastor.

Italy yelped when France lunged at him with the sword, barely dodging it. The blade caught his sleeve, and he glared at France.

"You shouldn't be so distracted," France lectured. "We have the Russian winter and the storm of the Cape of Storms on our side."

"Oh, so _that's_ the other one," Italy said, glancing to the sky again before quickly focusing on France. "Any _other_ surprises?"

"If I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise."

Black managed to get away from Sealand, and he took a brief moment to look up at Adamastor. He needed to find a way to attract the other's attention without alerting anyone else. He glanced down at his arm and grimaced. Even though he couldn't feel it, he knew that his arm was broken. It made controlling it even more difficult.

When they spoke about the fact that they had performed experiments on necromancy in the past, Black instantly knew that they were speaking the truth. The description of it being a sort of torture definitely convinced him that Amodi had experience with it. And Italy informing everyone about their lack of connection to their bodies also made Black realise that they were _very_ thorough in their experiments.

As for the poor souls involved in the experiments… he could only imagine what they must have gone through. As Jordan said, it helped to have a purpose. Unfortunately, the more damage their bodies received, the worst it felt to them. Their minds were trying to tell them that they _should_ be feeling all the damage, but their bodies weren't agreeing. And it _was_ causing psychological damage.

And again, the fact that they _knew_ this…

Black shook his head of the thought. He needed to focus. Sealand had been distracted by Adamastor, and Black needed to use the opportunity to reach the handgun that he had managed to hide. And then he needed to get the weapon to one of the snipers. He _could_ theoretically shoot Italy and/or Poland himself, but he was already having trouble controlling his body. He wouldn't be able to handle something that needed fine movements like pulling a trigger.

Plus, the arm that had been broken was his dominant arm, making it even _more_ difficult than it already would have been. His best bet was to get the weapon to someone else.

Before he could do anything, someone managed to find his hiding place. His eyes widened when he saw Sealand, who smirked darkly.

"We're not finished yet," Sealand said.

"…Demethi," Black muttered.

…

China opened his eyes. Everything was foggy.

It took him a moment to realise two things: There was a number of nations in his country, and _he_ wasn't. He sat up, hissing in pain as he clutched his chest. He took a few seconds to make sure that he could properly breathe, before standing up. He needed to find out what was happening.

It was a bit difficult for him to reach the door, and he wondered how long he had been out. As his mind cleared, he remembered the attack. He only hoped that he was among allies.

From the bedroom, he had to move through another room, before finding the front door. He could hear voices coming from outside, and he swallowed nervously before he opened the door.

 **One of the character traits I had in mind for Brazil is that he's a bit of a womanizer, though he has more of a look-but-don't-touch policy. I made a reference to that in the beginning, but didn't really have a lot of opportunities to show it. Especially once his crush on White became clear. Though, it does explain why she isn't so quick to accept his confession.**

 **And on that note, South Africans** _ **love**_ **having a barbecue, which we actually refer to by its Afrikaans name, braai. Heritage Day has actually been given the unofficial name of 'National Braai Day' (and it's more often referred to as Braai Day than Heritage Day). Expect a lot of South African parties to be a braai. There's even something called a 'bring-en-braai', which is another popular form of throwing a party. Basically, the host provides the fires and side dishes, while the guests bring their own meats. And a lot of the times when watching American TV and seeing a barbecue… No, just no. Especially if the barbecue is for burgers and hot dogs… those are made in the frying pan. My dad also said that the only place in America that knows how to have a barbecue is Texas. And my dad… Let's just say he makes enough to last an entire** _ **week**_ **. And he wonders why I get annoyed whenever he suggests a braai (like almost all South Africans, I love a braai, but it's the** _ **leftovers**_ **I have a problem with whenever my dad has a braai, especially considering I like rare steaks – it has to have a nice amount of heat, and reheating it in the microwave risks actually cooking it). Also, the only South Africans that** _ **don't**_ **like having a braai are usually vegetarians – a rare breed in South Africa, to be honest. I think I've only ever met two or three. Anyway, I can totally see Black and White having a braai together, and inviting their neighbours to join them. On that note, when they originally signed the contracts, Black had a braai in an effort to cheer White up… It didn't work. And that's also why the neighbours were there in the first place before discovering that Black isn't bound by the contract. So, it could** _ **definitely**_ **be used to trigger Namibia's memory. Anyway, sorry about the long rant – five months in France in a region that's particularly rainy…**

 **North and South communicating by touch was something that was demonstrated when North was 'captured' by the non-Amodi nations. He used it to communicate with Wales after he bit off his tongue.**


	120. Chapter 119

**Thanks to Tomatoes, Harmony Houston, Eternal Nexus Warrior, TooShyToReview, SansTheLanguage218 and an anon for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 119**

Kugelmugel, Wy and Ladonia were searching through the buildings, trying to find someone to attack. They had lingered a bit when they saw Sealand engage Black in a battle, but once they saw that Sealand had everything under control, they started looking for opponents of their own.

And it wouldn't even have to be opponents. They could simply be victims. And that was what would happen if they found someone they didn't want. Someone that had no other purpose but to be cannon fodder.

They burst into one of the buildings, but didn't see anyone. The houses were simple, and all of them appeared to share the same architectural design, all of them lacking furniture. Since the buildings were still in progress, it was understandable.

They knew that they needed to search the whole place. They couldn't allow anyone to escape. They needed to prove themselves. They needed to show the other members of Amodi that they deserved to be full-fledged nations.

The three remained quiet for a few moments, listening carefully. When they heard someone breathing inside, they knew that they had been successful. They carefully made their way towards the direction they heard the breathing coming from. They didn't want to alert their quarry to the fact that they were on their trail.

They paused before a doorway, and checked to make sure that they were all ready. Once they were satisfied, they drew their weapons and entered the room.

The occupants jumped in surprise, and when they realised who the intruders were, surprise turned to fear. The three former micronations smirked, realising that the room's occupants were regions. Easy targets.

Wanting to keep the advantage, Wy pulled the trigger of her gun. After the thunderous _bang_ , there was the sound of a body dropping to the floor. Isle of Man.

"No!" Cornwall shouted.

"Come on!" Jethou exclaimed. "Get out of here."

To everyone's surprise, Jethou charged at the former micronations, startling them as well. Picardy groaned, before he followed after the other. The rest of them made their way to the window and started climbing out.

"Not so fast!" Wy shouted.

Kugelmugel and Ladonia met the oncoming charge, so Wy was left to stop the escaping regions. She raised her gun, preparing to shoot, but then she saw someone deemed to be a target for capture. Madeira.

Wy aimed carefully, before she shot, catching the Portuguese island in the hip. Madeira shrieked in pain before collapsing to the floor, hand pressed against her injured hip.

"Shit!"

The former micronations widened their eyes, and they turned to see that the regions weren't the only ones hiding in the house. The Middle Eastern nations chose this as a refuge as well. And it almost appeared as though this was a trap.

Wy spun around to try to shoot one of the nations, but before she could take aim, she was grabbed by Qatar. She gritted her teeth as they started to struggle with the gun, and she pulled the trigger.

Qatar winced in pain, but he didn't let go. Wy glanced down to see that she had hit him in his lower thigh. It was unfortunate. She would need to aim higher. Aim for the stomach, and hope that he would let go so that she could aim for his heart.

Ladonia and Kugelmugel had their hands locked with Picardy and Jethou, respectively, as the region/island tried to push them back, but the former micronations had grown stronger, and were easily able to hold them back. However, with the introduction of the Middle Eastern nations to the equation, the former micronations had to let go of their opponents to avoid being overwhelmed.

"As much as I would hate to fight kids," Yemen said, "you brats need to learn a bit of respect."

"Oh really?" Ladonia taunted. "And why should _we_ respect _you_?"

"Because we actually _earned_ our right to be called nations," Oman snapped.

The three former micronations growled, and Ladonia and Kugelmugel raised their weapons, not caring who they were aiming for, as long as they managed to shoot someone. Wy and Qatar were still locked in their struggle, and Wy tried to adjust the gun's aim on Qatar, while Qatar was trying to disarm her while keeping her hands lowered in order to avoid another shot, this time in a more vulnerable spot.

"How?" Wy muttered, realising that she didn't have an upper hand.

"You inherited a l-lot of Australia's l-land, didn't you?" Qatar asked.

"That's right," Wy said. "I should have more land than you to draw power from. So why…?"

Qatar smirked.

"You l-lack experience," he said. "Y-you don't understand h-how hard it is t-to be a n-nation that s-struggled."

Bahrain quickly glanced over towards Qatar.

"At least he's not stuttering as much as he used to," he muttered.

"Considering he's in the middle of a battle," Kuwait said, "I'm actually impressed by how clearly he's speaking."

"Focus," Lebanon snapped. "Or did you forget that we still have enemies?"

The three former micronations gritted their teeth. Yemen and Oman were wrestling with Ladonia and Kugelmugel, trying to pull their guns out of their hands while preventing them from shooting anyone.

Wy glanced down at her own gun, which was still aimed lower than she would have liked. But when she saw the opportunity, she bit back her smirk as she moved her finger.

Qatar screamed in pain and let go, curling into the foetal position. The others glanced over at the sound of the gunshot and scream, and even those that were caught in a struggle relaxed for a moment to wince in sympathy.

Wy's bullet had managed to hit Qatar precisely between the legs.

" _That's_ got to hurt," Oman muttered, remembering his own injury by one of those bullets. Just picturing the pain of being shot by that _there_ …

Wy didn't waste the opportunity, though. As soon as she no longer had to worry about protecting her grip on her weapon, she adjusted her aim, shooting Qatar in the head. The other's body fell to the floor.

Wy yelped when she was shot in the leg, and she glared up at Lebanon, who had a handgun of her own. And even though it wasn't any of Amodi's bullets, it still hurt.

"Wait," Kuwait said, pushing Lebanon slightly away. "You're one of the snipers. You can't fall in battle. Leave this to us."

Wy narrowed her eyes at Kuwait's words. So, they had snipers. Then why wasn't Lebanon doing her job?

Remembering how Black had attempted to disarm them earlier, she realised that his plan was to deliver Amodi's weapons to their snipers in order to give them weapons that would actually kill a nation.

Wy couldn't allow that.

She aimed for Lebanon, but before she could shoot, Kuwait pushed Lebanon completely out of the way. He cried out in pain as his lower arm was hit, and Bahrain used the opportunity to tackle Wy.

While all of this was going on, the regions took the opportunity to escape.

…

"Think they'll be okay?" Jethou asked.

Picardy adjusted Madeira on his back to the best of his ability as he nodded, moving as swiftly as possible without jolting the injured island. They were a bit behind the others, but as long as they managed to avoid detection, everything should go smoothly.

They knew that members of Amodi would go after the regions, so they planned it carefully, making sure that the majority of them were in one house, hiding in one room. The Middle Eastern nations would hide in another room of the house, and they would attack once anyone from Amodi came in after them.

No one had gone to a random house when they had fled, though the bombs _were_ a bit unexpected. They all knew where they needed to go, and planned it carefully. But even careful plans had a tendency to go wrong.

Madeira's injury was definitely something they hadn't anticipated, but they could at least be thankful that it wasn't a fatal shot. Since Amodi had collected nearly all of the Portuguese territories, it was logical that they would want to go after the one that they had never managed to get: Madeira. Knowing this made them thankful, but they also realised that just because Amodi planned on capturing a few of them did not mean that they would be captured unharmed.

Which led their thoughts to the other confirmed targets. Not only would they have to worry about being captured, but they also might be seriously injured. And for those that had escaped before, they would have to worry about being 'punished' by Amodi, which meant that things would be even _worse_ for them.

And with their thoughts on the targets for capture, they couldn't help but wonder how Amodi would proceed to do that. Would they take the prisoners to their aircraft? Tie them up, or did they have a holding cell? Someone would have to stand guard. And when would they decide that it was time to leave?

How many would Amodi kill before they decided it was time to leave, or would they retreat once their own losses became too great? And how would they prevent anyone from coming after them?

These were concerns that the three fleeing regions didn't dare voice aloud. They felt as though the moment they voiced their thoughts, the worst scenarios would come true. And they also didn't want to increase the fear amongst them. The enemies were attacking, and the regions were helpless. They realised that they had volunteered to stay behind, to _fight_ , but when the situation called for it, they were too afraid to draw their own weapons.

The three made their way to the treeline, where the others were already waiting. Jethou and Picardy sighed in relief when they reached them, slowing down. Picardy gently let Madeira down, with some help from Catalonia and Jethou.

"We need to get that wound treated," Catalonia said.

"Sure," Madeira said, wincing in pain. "Um, could someone give me a belt or something. Because the bullet is still inside, and needs to come out."

"Shit," Cornwall said. "Does anyone know how to do this?"

No one answered, and Madeira whimpered. Picardy sighed.

"I _think_ I can do it," he said. "I watched France once. We need to get the bullet out and stop the bleeding."

"You'll just have to hold out until we can ask one of the nations for help," Catalonia said to Madeira.

"Let's hope we get the chance," Herm said.

Jethou smacked Herm on the head.

"Why did you have to say that?" he demanded.

Cornwall helped Madeira lie down on her back, while Picardy removed his belt. Madeira bit down on the belt when Catalonia lifted the hem of her shirt and pulled down her trousers a little in order to reach the wound.

"That looks painful," Herm said.

Madeira shot him a look, and Picardy knelt down to look at the wound. He gingerly placed his hand on Madeira's hip, just a bit away from the wound, and she hissed in pain.

"Sorry about this," Picardy said, removing his dagger.

…

Cyprus, Greece and TRNC were in one of the closest houses where the battle was taking place. They were to provide assistance to Turkey, should he need it, at least in the case of the older two. TRNC was worried about Turkey and was keeping a close eye on him.

"You shouldn't let them see you," Cyprus said, trying to get his brother away from the window.

"But aren't you worried about him?" TRNC asked.

"Of course we are. But I also don't want _you_ to get hurt." Cyprus sighed. "We should have sent you to America's group… At least I know you would have been safe there."

TRNC whipped around, anger in his eyes.

"No!" he snapped. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be shipped off 'somewhere safe' while your family is at war?"

"Shh," Greece shushed him. "We don't want them to find us."

TRNC shot Greece a look, and Cyprus sighed, before pulling his younger brother into a hug.

"I also hope you realise how hard it was to leave you alone," Cyprus said. "I had no idea if you were still safe or not. And when Norway told us that Canada had every intention of going after you… I hope you realise how worried I was. I just want you to be safe."

TRNC whimpered, before clutching onto Cyprus's shirt.

"And I know you're worried about the old man," Greece said. "But we can't let Amodi realise that we're here. If they come to this place, then Turkey will see it. That would distract him, and Switzerland could take advantage of the distraction and he might kill him. So, we need to stay unnoticed, but we can still keep an eye on Turkey to see if he needs help. We just need to be quiet, and you need to make sure that you're not too obvious at the window."

TRNC was surprised to hear the worry in Greece's voice. Greece also sounded alert, for a change, proving that he was taking this completely seriously. And the fact that _Greece_ sounded worried about Turkey…

TRNC nodded, throwing the battle outside one last glance before ducking out of sight. Cyprus and Greece settled down nearby, listening closely and occasionally glancing outside. They were paying close attention to the battle, trying to determine whether or not they needed to intervene.

Greece glanced down at his left hand, seeing the black thread wrapped around it. It wasn't as strong as Amodi's, since it didn't have the same amount of time to build. And it wouldn't hurt them if they lost any of their members. But it still made them stronger. If they hadn't learned to tap into their hatred for Amodi, then Turkey _would_ have been in trouble. But now, they were all united by their mutual hatred of Amodi.

Greece clenched his fist. He could still remember when he had been brainwashed by Egypt and Canada. The paranoia while being around his allies. The underlying desire to _kill_ …

It took a while for him to separate his own thoughts from the ones that they had planted in his head. And even now, he could still hear something whisper to him. He knew that he wasn't completely free. Not yet.

But he needed to remain calm. He'd learned that he tended to slip into their… programming when he became agitated. Which was why he had been trying his hardest to remain civil with Turkey. He knew that if he slipped up, it would have disastrous consequences. And ever since Greece strangled Cyprus, Turkey had also been careful not to agitate Greece. As though he knew that it would be damaging for him.

Greece had never been this grateful to Turkey in his life.

And of course, Greece had long since apologised to Cyprus for what had happened. Cyprus was at least understanding. But even though Cyprus had forgiven him, Greece couldn't forgive Amodi for what they'd done to him.

It was just disappointing that Canada hadn't come along. Greece would have liked to _thank_ Canada for what they'd done to him.

…

Panarus was hovering above the village, relishing in the chaos of battle. He could sense the hatred in the air. It was delicious. Nations fighting with personal grudges against each other. It was something simply fantastic.

He managed to catch sight of a few nations fleeing from one of the houses, and it seemed as though one of them – the girl – was injured, for she was being carried on the back of one of the males. His smile fell. Even without tapping into Quebec's memories, he knew who she was.

Madeira.

He felt disgust for the girl. Quebec might have been dense, but Panarus could sense that she would be a danger to him. She could strip him of his body, if she managed to figure out _how_.

He thought about going down to kill her, but he could sense something else that needed his attention. He turned to one of the houses and cocked his head to the side, thinking that it might at least prove to be interesting.

Madeira could wait, for now.

…

"…You're going to let us return to our own homes," Norway said. "As long as we don't leave our borders without your permission, it shouldn't be a problem. Might even prevent cabin fever."

Romania rolled his eyes, but the words appeared on the magical parchment. He had conjured the paper, and as Norway named his terms, they were added to the paper, but only if Romania accepted them. If something was brought up that Romania didn't quite agree with, then he and Norway would negotiate until they came to a compromise.

Finland was standing next to Greenland and Faroe, watching the negotiations. Romania had released the spell keeping them against the wall, and while Norway and Romania were discussing their terms, Greenland and Faroe were examining the papers with information on Panarus, and what the spell required. Finland was keeping an eye on them, in case one of them decided to attack or try to run, but they seemed willing to cooperate as long as Norway was returned to the status of nation.

"Well, isn't this interesting."

They all jumped at the sudden voice, turning to the door to face the speaker. The voice was a combination of cold and slimy. It was enough to make someone's skin crawl.

Romania and Finland's eyes widened, and they immediately realised who this was.

"Panarus," Romania whispered.

Panarus smirked, cocking his head to the side.

"Quebec?" Greenland whispered, confused and scared.

Panarus glanced towards her and his smirk fell.

"So, looks like word of my release has spread," Panarus said. "And _you're_ trying to send me back. It _should_ be interesting. However…"

Before anyone could say or do anything, Panarus was in front of Greenland, his arm pierced through her chest.

"… _You_ need to be destroyed."

 **I've actually had a few questions about pairings outside of Amodi. There** _ **were**_ **supposed to be blossoming side pairings, asides from Brazil/White and the Netherlands/Portugal/China triangle (and Quebec's harem). Black/Morocco, for example, but then Black was killed before there could be more than a spark. America/Michoacán was also an intended pairing, but then America went back for his states and Michoacán was captured. If they could have more screen time together, then they might develop a bit further. And I've even been thinking of Japan/Vietnam.**

 **This battle is going to last a few chapters, I can already tell…**

 **And it wasn't until I reached the end of this chapter that I remembered that I left the previous chapter with a cliffhanger with China. Oh well. Next time, then.**


	121. Chapter 120

**Thanks to Eternal Nexus Warrior, Elsa, Harmony Houston and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 120**

China opened the door, wincing at the sudden light. The steady lull of conversation stopped, and China hesitantly opened his eyes.

He immediately realised that he wasn't with enemies, but he was still confused as to why he was there. Seeing the nation, he realised that he was in America. And that the light was caused by a fire.

America was the first one that came closer, a smile on his face.

"Great, you're up," America said. "How do you feel?"

"Weak and dizzy," China said. "How long was I out?"

"A few days," Nepal said.

China paused for a bit, before nodding his head. His hand absently made its way to his chest, where his heart would be, and he also felt the bandaging.

"How did I get here?" China asked.

"Adamastor brought us," Serbia said. "Amodi was planning an attack, and the others wanted to get the non-combatants to safety."

"Smart. And I think I can feel the attack. Maybe that's what woke me. There are too many nations in my country, and they're using my land as a battlefield."

"Can you tell how the battle is going?" America asked.

China shook his head. Nepal and Thailand had approached him, and were helping him to the group, helping him sit down. China looked around at the nations present. America, Thailand, Serbia, Nepal, and… two that he didn't quite recognise.

"Who are you?" China asked the two.

"These are Louisiana and Massachusetts," America explained. "They're two of my states."

China nodded his head in understanding.

"Vilnius is also somewhere around here," Serbia said. "And Pakistan went somewhere with Pele."

"Who's Pele?" China asked.

"Hawaiian volcano goddess," America explained. "Though, she's in the same league as Adamastor and General Winter."

China nodded his head again.

"We managed to rescue a few nations from Amodi," Thailand said. "Though, they were in the Washroom. Have been for a few days."

China shuddered, understanding what Thailand was implying. The nations that they had saved were being brainwashed. And considering what happened to Greece…

"Any idea what the damage is?" China asked.

"Looks like Canada tried to wipe away their memories before he did anything else," America said. "They've got amnesia."

China winced.

"That's going to be bad," he said. "Where are they now?"

"They're sleeping," Serbia said. "I don't think Canada allowed them to go to sleep since their brainwashing began."

"Of course not. Sleep deprivation makes the effects of indoctrination stronger."

"We're also hoping that they might remember something once they've had a chance to rest," Nepal said. "And Pakistan went to get something to restore Australia and New Zealand's memories."

China was a bit surprised to hear that Australia and New Zealand were among the prisoners, but still smiled. That was good news. China placed his hand on his stomach, and Louisiana seemed to notice.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"A bit," China admitted.

"Considering how long you've been sleeping, it's not surprising," America said.

"There are still some sandwiches from earlier," Louisiana said, standing up. "I'll go get them for you."

China smiled gratefully at her, before turning his attention back to America. He cocked his head to the side.

"You seem to have matured," China said.

America nodded.

"I had to kill Canada," America said.

"I assumed, since you managed to rescue prisoners and you mentioned Canada," China said. "At least another one is dead. But… you don't seem too happy about it."

"Well, he _was_ my brother. But… there's also something else. Canada… He was completely unhinged. And he… he was _hoping_ that I would kill him. He even made plans to get one of his own allies to kill him in a rage."

China frowned.

"Why would he do that?" China asked.

"Because he wanted to be with Egypt again," America said. "And Amodi's preparations made it impossible for them to commit suicide."

Everyone was shocked by the news. Massachusetts especially looked thoughtful, though hopeful.

"Do you think it's the same with Liechtenstein?" Massachusetts asked.

"Molossia died, and since then she's been pretty unhinged," America said. "The way she left New York and Vermont… She's definitely upset about his death. But I wonder if all she wants is for someone to kill her, like Mattie."

"If that _is_ what she's after," Thailand said, "then I don't think that _you_ should kill her."

"Huh?"

"Think about it: _you're_ the one that killed her lover. The thing we know for a fact that she wants is to get revenge on you. And for that reason, you're the _last_ person she would want to kill her, if death really is what she wants."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense."

Louisiana returned with the sandwiches, and China tentatively started nibbling on them, careful to not shock his system.

"So, how are you going to go about it?" China asked.

"I don't know," America said. "As soon as I know where exactly she is… She hasn't found anyone yet. Or maybe she isn't here yet. I guess it's a lot harder without Puerto Rico to tell her where to find them. And she somehow manages to keep a low profile."

"That's the same with what happened with Romania," Serbia said. "Slovenia knew that he was somewhere nearby, but he didn't know that until Romania was in the city, and until Slovenia actually _tried_ looking for him. And even then, he couldn't pinpoint Romania's location until it was too late." Serbia shuddered. "I think they've worked on ways to prevent us from finding them if they didn't want to be found."

"So, even if she _is_ in my country, I wouldn't be able to find her unless she wants me to find her, huh? There goes the possibility of her wanting to die."

"Again, I don't think she wants to die by your hand," Thailand said. "If you take someone with you…"

"But there's still the issue of finding her."

"This may sound harsh," China said, "but since she's on a mission to kill your states…"

"The moment one of them dies, I'll feel it, and I'll know where she is," America sighed. "I know."

"We can try to track her down, if you want," Louisiana said, glancing towards Massachusetts. "We could put our magic to good use."

"Thanks," America said, smiling softly. "There's also one more thing." He frowned. "I managed to get some information out of Canada regarding what he did to Quebec."

"What?!" China exclaimed.

"Yeah, Quebec came too, for his protection," America said. "Only to be captured."

"So, what did you learn?" Serbia asked.

"Well, Canada used Quebec as a sacrifice for this… Well, he called it the personification of destruction and all that crap."

China paled.

"You can't mean… Panarus…" China muttered.

…

There was a brief moment when the scenery shifted. Quebec blinked in surprise. He was no longer chained in the basement, but… something was wrong.

He could see through his own eyes, but he was not in control of his body. And what he saw made him scream, but the sound only echoed inside his mind.

 _I wanted to show you,_ Panarus whispered.

Quebec shook his head, tears streaming down his face as he realised that _his_ arm was pierced through Greenland's chest. He could feel her heart, and he couldn't control his body as Panarus used it to destroy one of his friends.

…

"No!" Faroe shouted, lunging at Panarus, though he was being restrained by Finland.

Romania was also holding Norway back. No one could to anything as Panarus removed his hand from Greenland's chest, taking her heart with it. He didn't quite _crush_ the heart, but it started to harden until it turned into dust. Greenland's face was covered with what looked like visible veins in a horrible shade of black, before her body crumbled, just as her heart had done.

Nothing of Greenland remained. Not even her soul.

"That's better," Panarus said, before glancing at Faroe. "Now, where were we?"

Faroe tensed, taking a nervous step back, or trying to. Finland was still restraining him. Tears were streaming down his face, and looking at the black eyes of Panarus, he could see nothing. No true emotion. Just chaos. And the face was familiar. Faroe had gotten to know the face, and Greenland had said the name of the owner.

"Quebec…" Faroe whispered.

"That's right," Panarus said, leaning closer towards Faroe, prompting _Finland_ to take a step back. "Canada was nice enough to give me his body."

Faroe wanted to snap something back, but he grew aware of the fact that Finland was _trembling_. Although Finland had seemed relatively calm earlier, his true feelings regarding Panarus were clear to Faroe. Finland was absolutely _terrified_ of Panarus. And Finland was actually trying to _protect_ Faroe at the moment.

"Why kill Greenland?" Norway demanded.

"She was a nuisance that needed to be eliminated," Panarus said dismissively. "Though, her death is causing Quebec so much anguish. You should hear his screams."

Faroe realised with horror that Quebec was aware of _everything_ , and that Panarus was purposely trying to hurt Quebec. Then… Did that mean that Panarus might go after the rest of the girls, _just_ to get under Quebec's skin, more than he already was?

"Now, you're the nations that want to seal me again?" Panarus asked casually, looking around. "Let's see… We have Norway. Oh, but you're not a nation anymore, are you?"

Norway tensed, and Romania tightened his grip on Norway. Like Faroe with Finland, Norway realised that Romania was terrified, further emphasising how much of a threat Panarus was. And the fact that Panarus had said something like that so casually…

Panarus turned his attention to Faroe, who shrank back in fear.

"Faroe Islands," Panarus said. "You wouldn't even be worth attacking. At least your sister had a sufficient amount of landmass with _some_ variety. You're nothing more than a rock."

"H-hey!" Faroe exclaimed indignantly, momentarily forgetting his fear.

"Don't let him get to you," Finland whispered in his ear.

"And as for the other two… Finland and Romania," Panarus said. "You were among Canada's allies. It's a shame he's dead. Oh well. Given how unhinged he'd become, it's really not unexpected that he got himself killed."

Finland and Romania shuddered, and Faroe and Norway could feel it as well.

"Unfortunately, Canada asked me to leave you alone," Panarus continued in mock disappointment. "And I'm fine with keeping my end of the bargain. I'm not without honour. But it only lasts as long as this body does. It's a shame he managed to find one that could last a long time." Panarus glanced at the window, a lazy smirk on his face as he cocked his head to the side. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to watch the battle. Maybe get rid of those annoying girls."

And with that, Panarus simply disappeared, as though he had never been there in the first place. Finland and Romania released Faroe and Norway, and Faroe rounded on Finland.

" _That's_ the thing that you wanted us to help you get rid of?" Faroe demanded.

"That's right," Finland said.

"He's even worse than the description," Romania said. "Could you sense it?"

"Ja," Norway said.

"But… what about the others?" Faroe asked, before he whimpered. "Green…"

"I have no idea why he would be interested in them," Romania said. "But he must see them as some sort of threat. If they were just a nuisance, as he'd called her…"

"Considering he didn't even think of Faroe as worth attacking, there must be something about Greenland and the girls he mentioned," Finland said. "Is there anything that they have in common?"

"The only thing I can think of is that they're all quite interested in Quebec," Faroe said. "A bit annoying at times, to be honest."

"If Panarus is to be believed, then Quebec is aware of what's happening," Norway said. "There's a chance that he doesn't even consider them as a threat. Perhaps he's just thinking about torturing Quebec."

"Regardless of the reason," Romania said, "we need to stop him."

"I saw that the spell can be cast in phases," Norway said. "How does this work?"

"It's something that strengthens with time. The more you cast it, the better your chances of succeeding. Of course, it helps to have many nations casting it. It should finish it sooner. And it also helps avoid the risk. If only one person is casting it, then eventually Panarus will catch on and go after you. There's a chance he'll kill you, or worse. He might decide to use you as his next body."

Norway winced, and Faroe shuddered.

"So, that _can't_ be the reason why he went after Green," Faroe said. "We haven't even had the chance to cast the spell."

"Reading it also counts," Romania said. "Doesn't matter if it's aloud or not."

"Then… Green managed to cast the spell. I'd just started with that portion, and she's always been a faster reader than me."

"We'll never know," Romania said. "The only ones that could tell for sure are Panarus, and he wouldn't admit something like that; Greenland, who's now dead with her soul completely destroyed; and possibly Quebec, depending on how much he knows, but he's currently dealing with Panarus using his body as his office."

"Interesting way of putting it," Norway said dryly. "Though I really want to stop that bastard once and for all, my terms still stand."

"I'd think you were an idiot if you completely forgot them in favour of revenge," Finland said. "But that sounds more like something that Denmark would do."

"So, any other terms?" Romania asked.

"Just that we stop that bastard once and for all," Norway said.

"Now _that_ is something I wouldn't mind throwing in."

"Hold on," Faroe said. "Why did Panarus leave _us_ alive?"

"In Tino any my case, he's bound by honour through his agreement with Canada," Romania said. "And you and Norway… He doesn't consider you to be a threat."

Norway and Faroe flinched at that.

"Do you have any other nations that can use magic?" Finland asked Norway.

"There are two states of America," Norway said. "One of them is responsible for the necromancy. And then I also know of Svalbard."

"We haven't been able to get him yet," Finland said, annoyed. "So, he can use magic too?"

"Right. And maybe you should ask some of the Africans. They're still your prisoners, right?"

Finland nodded, before removing his cell phone. Norway glanced at the magical contract, before accepting the pen that Romania held out to him.

…

Laos, Tibet and Hong Kong jumped in surprise when the door opened. The three of them retreated slightly, worried about one of the Amodi nations wanting to torture them. Considering the fact that it wasn't time to eat, it was the most likely possibility.

They saw San Marino, who was casually leaning against the wall.

"You can leave the room for a bit, if you want," San Marino said. "Maybe watch a movie, if you want."

The three blinked in surprise, before sharing looks.

"Why would you suddenly make this offer?" Tibet asked.

"Because other than you three, it's just Angelo and me," San Marino said. "I imagine that this room would get boring after a while. So, while Feliciano isn't here, I guess you can walk around a bit. You wouldn't be able to leave, anyway. You'll die as soon as you try to escape."

The three Asians hesitated, before Laos stepped forward.

"Thank you for your… generous offer," Laos said.

San Marino shrugged, before he left, the door remaining open. The Asians hesitated a bit longer before following after the European.

…

Somalia walked into the common room, an annoyed look on his face. Senegal was the only one present. He saw him and shrank back, before trying to slink away.

"Senegal," Somalia snapped, startling the other nation. "You wouldn't happen to know about anyone that practices magic?"

Senegal was a bit surprised at the question, before he shook his head.

"I could ask around," he said nervously.

Somalia sighed.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it," Somalia said, before going towards the nearest couch and collapsing on top of it.

Senegal watched the nation that was technically one of their captors with a bit of confusion. Somalia seemed to pick up on it, for he lifted his head.

"What?" he snapped.

"Is something wrong?" Senegal asked.

Somalia groaned.

"Libya and Eritrea were bad enough, but bearable," he said. "And now Peru is here, and he and Ethiopia are trying to make up for lost time. It's a _lot_ worse than when I had to put up with Libya and Eritrea."

"I… don't follow," Senegal admitted.

Somalia groaned.

"Then let me put this another way," he said. "I'm the _only_ single African Amodi nation, and one of the _only_ single nations in the entire Amodi. I think it's just Argentina and the younger, former micronations that are single. Oh, and Philippines. Then there's Chile and Venezuela, but we don't know if they're an item or not."

After explaining, Senegal winced in sympathy, but he couldn't hold back a small smile. It was refreshing to know that their captors had some difficulties as well.

"I'll go ask the others if they practice magic," Senegal said, before ducking out of the room.

He would also warn the others not to enter the common room. He didn't want any of them to have to deal with Somalia, especially if he's in such a state.

…

Russia was pushed back slightly, and he shook his head in an effort to clear it. He was off-balance, and he wondered if he had somehow developed an inner ear infection. Well, he knew what the cause was.

The east of his country was dealing with a _massive_ cold front. The temperature had dropped by about twenty degrees in a very short amount of time, and it wasn't natural. And then the west of his country was dealing with a severe heatwave. Twenty degrees higher than it was supposed to be.

It was just unfortunate that this was happening while he was fighting against Belarus, who had no sympathy for his less-than-stellar health.


	122. Chapter 121

**Thanks to Harmony Houston, Anime4life5, SansTheLanguage218 and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing. 1000 reviews?! Wow… Thanks guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 121**

America's eyes widened.

"You know about him?" America asked.

China shuddered.

"He made life for the Ancients extremely difficult," China said. "Among other things, he's killed a few of us, whether directly or by proxy."

"What do you mean?" Nepal asked.

"Panarus… He preferred making the lives of nations extremely difficult. To humans, he enjoyed bringing death while trying to be creative. And he made sure that nations felt it. It was on rare occasions when he would directly attack a nation, but only when another nation was nearby. He had the power to completely and utterly destroy a nation – even their soul – and whenever he did that, he preferred to have a witness around. And Amodi _released_ it…?"

"Well, not _Amodi_ ," America said. "Canada. He said that Italy was mad at him, and that it was something that they had agreed _not_ to do."

China shuddered again.

"Did Canada even realise what he's _done_?" China moaned.

"Oh, he knew," America said, "but he was beyond caring."

Everyone could see the disturbed look in America's eyes, and decided to hold out on questioning him further. China bowed his head.

"And now Quebec is playing host to Panarus?" China asked. "The poor boy."

"Could you tell us everything you know about this?" America asked.

China swallowed nervously, but nodded his head.

"Panarus brought chaos and destruction wherever he went," China said. "And he wasn't limited to one part of the world. He would be in Europe one day, and Asia the next. He enjoyed killing humans in as many creative ways as possible, but he also did that to mess with the nations. It's because we could feel everything that went on in our lands. And on rare occasions he would directly attack a nation, but he always made sure that there was another nation nearby to act as witness. At one point, we Ancients decided that we'd had enough, but we realised that there was no way to kill him. Our weapons didn't work, and while those with magic could hurt him, it wasn't enough. So, those with magic made sure to use it to find everyone, and we were all gathered together to fight our common enemy."

"I've never heard of anything like _this_ before," Thailand said.

"One of the first things we did was strip him of his body, so that he wouldn't be able to do anything," China continued. "Unfortunately, he realised that he could simply inhabit another body. Humans lasted a day or two, which wasn't enough for him, so he started targeting nations. While we were trying to defeat him once and for all, he would use our bodies in any way he saw fit. But that also had a time limit, and many nations died as a result."

"Canada said that suffering prolongs his stay," America said.

"Yes, that's true. And very unfortunate. Because Panarus feeds on the energy caused by suffering. He once mentioned to the rest of us that he lets his host relive all of the horrible things that happened to them."

"And now he's in Quebec," Serbia said, clenching his fists. "The poor boy… How do we stop him?"

"Canada _did_ mention a way to get Panarus out of the host's body," America said.

"What?" China asked, eyes growing wide. "We never knew of such a method."

"Yeah. He said that someone that's in love with the host needs to kiss them. It's not going to be easy."

China, Serbia and Nepal stared at America, before each of them started laughing.

"Is that so?" China asked, amused.

"Am I missing something?" Massachusetts asked.

"Quebec has _several_ options," Nepal said, smirking. "I haven't been there for too long, but I could see it clearly. Madeira, Catalonia, Gibraltar, Greenland, Isle of Man… This will be too easy."

America frowned.

"As long as they survive long enough for them to be able to kiss him," America pointed out.

The laughter died, as they remembered that a battle was currently taking place. They all looked pained, and China slumped.

"We'll need to find a way to get them _here_ then," China said.

Just as he said that, there was a sudden flash. Everyone turned to see that Pakistan and Pele had returned.

"Okay, so I managed to get some supplies," Pakistan said, not looking up as he was rifling through a bag. "I got vegemite for Australia and marmite for New Zealand. I also got us some steaks so that we can have a barbecue, and…"

He looked up, seeing everyone staring at him. However, it was the _way_ they stared at him that made him pause.

"What?" he asked. "Did I miss something?"

…

Confederacy looked around her, feeling a little irked. It would seem that everyone was engaged in a battle, and although she knew that she could help her allies by shooting their enemies, she also recognised the fact that some of these were battles of pride. Belarus and Russia's battle, for example.

It was like how Mexico wanted to deal with Michoacán herself. And Confederacy would respect that decision.

Still, she didn't know what to do. She much preferred fighting from a distance than in close quarters. And she couldn't find anyone to engage in a battle.

She saw movement from behind a demolished building and smirked. Perhaps she _could_ do something.

…

White bit her lip as she watched the battle between Israel and Brazil. She hated the fact that she was simply standing there, but she wasn't one for close combat. That was Black's specialty. Her specialty was sneak attacks and long-ranged fire. That's why she was a sniper, after all. That was why she used guerrilla warfare.

Brazil, on the other hand, was more equipped for hand-to-hand combat. It was the reason why he had opted for a dagger, rather than a sword. He was skilled in both capoeira and Brazilian jujitsu. In fact, he had been sparring with Japan the last few days, whenever he wasn't around her.

But Israel had experience with a sword. He could also afford to put more distance between him and his opponent than Brazil could. So, Brazil's hope for victory heavily relied on getting the sword out of Israel's hand. They didn't think that Israel was so good at hand-to-hand.

She was also hoping that the handgun he kept in his pocket would fall out, and then she could use it to fire at either Italy or Poland. This place was chosen because the entire square was visible from here, and as long as the others kept the two leaders in the square, it shouldn't be hard to get rid of them. But they would need to get rid of _both_ of them.

For now, though, Israel was the main priority. White still couldn't believe that he would willingly join Amodi, and for what, exactly? Also, why did he spend so much of his time focusing on her? Those questions burned in her mind, and had often invaded her dreams.

Speaking of dreams, she was reminded of the one that Romania had given her. When she was forced to watch Brazil and everyone else die. Standing behind her, holding her, whispering in her ear… It was Israel. And she found her emotions even more confused after the dream. Because she didn't feel fear for him in that dream, but found herself wanting to turn to him. To hide her face in his chest as she watched everyone around her die. As she was crying over Brazil's death.

She wondered how much of that was Romania's doing, and how much her own thoughts and emotions. Because she couldn't deny that in the darkest time of her life, Israel was there for her – one of the few nations that didn't abandon her. Something like that wasn't easily forgotten. She wanted to know how much of that was a lie.

No. She knew that everything that happened during Apartheid wasn't a lie. It was everything that happened after Black's death. The way he told her that Amodi allowed him to walk around, despite being a prisoner, as long as he behaved himself. She knew that she should have seen it sooner, but she had been so distraught...

She wanted to know the truth, but now wasn't the time to ask. Not while they were engaged in a battle.

…Wait.

…

Mexico was making her way to the place where she knew Michoacán to be, axe in hand. Of course, the axe wasn't her only weapon. It was mostly there for when she actually wanted to _fight_. If she wanted to go straight for the kill and she found the axe to be inadequate, she also had a revolver strapped to her waist.

She gritted her teeth when another bullet lodged itself in her lower arm. She knew that Michoacán was a better shot than this. So she paused for a moment, testing her fingers. They moved with some difficulty, which meant that Michoacán was focussing on hitting pressure points.

Clever.

Gritting her teeth, Mexico reached her fingers into the wound and pried the bullet out, before throwing it away. She healed pretty fast, even for a nation.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" a voice whispered in her ear.

"Si," Mexico said. "I'm sure."

She had met Pele and had heard of General Winter, but she had her own force of nature on her side. Probably the most powerful, and the one that no one could escape.

Death.

La Catrina had been her ally since the deaths of Aztec and Maya. However, La Catrina didn't want to actively take part in what they were doing. Mexico knew that she didn't approve, but she wouldn't interfere. The only thing she was willing to do was keep Mexico and Confederacy alive, even if it was against something that would kill a nation.

It was because of La Catrina that Confederacy was still alive in the first place.

Mexico marched on, heading towards the house where she could see Michoacán hiding, obviously waiting for her. Because slowly, Michoacán came out of her hiding spot, but still remained in the house. She was now waiting.

They had both, in their own way, agreed that the next time they met, one of them would die. Mexico especially wanted to make good on that vow. She had already killed the rest of the states, and only Michoacán remained. It was time to finish what she started. She also wanted to punish Michoacán for all of the grief that she had given her.

Mexico opened the door of the house, and immediately blocked against the attack, holding up her axe. Michoacán was also holding an axe. The two of them locked eyes and both pairs of eyes narrowed. The two pulled away, eyeing each other.

A Mexican showdown. Perhaps not a traditional one, but that didn't matter. She would make sure that she emerged as the victor.

…

"There," Picardy said, holding the bloody bullet.

Cornwall immediately moved to place a torn piece of cloth against Madeira's wound, and even though she was extremely pale and looked on the verge of passing out, Madeira was glaring at Picardy. The French region winced, averting his eyes.

"Désolé," he said. "But it was the only way."

"This is going to be hard to bandage," Catalonia observed. "We're going to need to get a bandage that's long enough."

"I think there are bandages in China's house," Jethou said. "Of course, actually getting to it…"

They were all startled when there was a sudden flash, and two people were standing among them. They were afraid at first, until they recognised one of them.

"America?" Picardy questioned.

"Hey there," America said, grinning. "Um, you wouldn't mind coming with us, right?"

The regions exchanged a look, and America finally noticed Madeira. His eyes widened.

"What happened?" he asked, kneeling down next to her.

"She was shot in the hip," Picardy said. "I managed to get the bullet out, but…"

"Couldn't you have come sooner?" Madeira asked.

Her speech was a bit slurred, and she sounded really tired. The others realised that it was probably because she _was_.

"Come on," America said, gathering the Portuguese island into his arms. "We'll get you to our camp, and we'll take a look at that. Just try to stay awake as long as possible."

Madeira nodded sluggishly. America looked around at them.

"I'll ask you guys about what's going on later," America said. "For now, I think we need to get out of here."

"Why aren't you joining the battle?" Cornwall asked.

"Because we have more important things to worry about."

…

Confederacy was making her way to where she had noticed the movement when she suddenly felt something. She could sense her northern counterpart nearby.

Her eyes widened, and she abandoned her original destination in favour of going after him. However, before she could reach him, he suddenly disappeared.

She came to an abrupt stop, gritting her teeth in frustration. She had been _so_ close…

Perhaps she could arrange with the others to take her to America when they were finished with this battle. She would kill Alfred Jones, and Dixie Jones would become the only personification of America.

…

"Wow," Philippines said, parrying the blow that Singapore sent towards her. "You _must_ be angry at me."

"I know that you killed Malaysia," Singapore said. "And that you weren't originally a member of Amodi. So I want to know _why_ you decided to join them."

Philippines pursed her lips.

"I joined them of my own free will," Philippines said. "I've been through so much crap from everyone. I was everyone's punching bag. And when I heard that there's a group going around killing everyone – especially Spain – I decided that it would be fun to join them. I wanted to make America pay for the way he treated me, Japan for World War Two, and pretty much everyone in South-East Asia. Do you _honestly_ think that I _liked_ being the butt of everyone's jokes?"

"Look, I'm sorry if you felt like that," Singapore said. "But… joining mass murderers because you were angry about the way people treated you… It's just not right."

"There's also another reason I decided to join them," Philippines said. "I decided that I could either go of my own volition, or wait for them to come to me. And I had no way of knowing if they wanted to recruit, capture or kill me. So I went with the option that guaranteed my survival. I had enough of being someone else's slave. Joining them on my own… Having the _freedom_ to choose what course I wanted to take in this war… You have no idea what it feels like."

Singapore narrowed her eyes. While she couldn't exactly blame Philippines for choosing the option that would ensure her survival while sparing her the pain of being conquered, the group she chose to ally herself with was not exactly the best choice. And they'd heard from Nepal that he had been attacked by Korean and Philippine soldiers. And heaven only knew how many others Philippines helped to kill. What disturbed Singapore and made her decide to battle Philippines herself was the fact that Amodi didn't force its members to do what they didn't want to do. Which meant that Philippines _happily_ took part in the attacks on their fellow nations.

And looking Philippines in the eye… She could see that the other nation had gone off the deep end. There was a spark of insanity in her eyes. But how much of that was Amodi's doing and how much of it was because of how the other nations treated her?

In another corner, South and Japan were crossing swords as well. South had a bloodthirsty grin on his face while Japan looked mostly stoic, if not for his eyes, which perfectly reflected his anger.

"So, how bad were China's wounds?" South asked. "Was it enough for you to fear for his life? Did he cough up blood?"

"Shut up," Japan said. "China did everything for you. How could you repay him like that?"

South's grin widened.

"You're not just referring to _me_ ," South pointed out. "You're saying that to yourself."

Japan's eyes widened, and South took the opportunity to slash at Japan's wrist with his own sword. Japan cried out in pain, and South managed to knock the katana out of the other's hand. Japan's eyes widened again when South kicked him in the stomach, before he was sent sprawling to the ground. Before Japan could stand up again, South pinned him down by straddling his waist, the sword's blade pressed against Japan's throat. South grinned when he saw the look of helplessness on Japan's face.

"You betrayed him too," South said. "The Sino-Japanese wars. Not to mention the things you did during World War Two, where even the _Nazis_ found your actions appalling."

"That…" Japan said, struggling for words.

South seemed to enjoy the fact that he had Japan helpless like this, and that he was truly getting under Japan's skin.

"And it wasn't just China," South said. "Who _wasn't_ hurt by you during World War Two? Your empire days… you could give the Europeans a run for their money regarding the things you did."

South blinked in surprise when he saw tears gathering in the corner of Japan's eyes.

"I… I didn't want that," Japan whispered. "My people… my boss…"

"Excuses," South spat. "If you really didn't enjoy that, then you would have figured out a way to ignore your people's desires a long time ago. The Japanese soldiers during World War Two were really vicious. Makes one wonder. Because it goes both ways. The people's desires influence the nation, but the nation also influences his people."

"G-gomen…" Japan whispered.

"It's too late for that," South said, adjusting his sword so that the tip was pressed against Japan's chest, where his heart rested. "Far too late."

 **There were quite a few Nazi soldiers present during the Nanking massacre, and they were really appalled by what they saw the Japanese doing. And Japan actually made it on the list of top 10 evil empires. Can't remember which number, though. But it was below the Nazis. And number 1 was the British Empire.**

 **Remember when Pakistan said that they needed to get two of the most horrifying things in the universe? He was talking about marmite and vegemite. I actually like marmite, and once bonded with a New Zealander about our mutual love of it. I also asked one of the teachers at the French school I'm working at to bring me a jar back when they were on a trip to England (and it was funny that when I asked the students about the trip, the first thing they did was complain about the food, though it was more the portions instead of the taste). I've never had vegemite, but I'm curious, and my mom's boss, whose daughter lives in Australia, said she'd bring some back for me the next time she goes.**

 **Adamastor, General Winter, Pele, and now La Catrina… I thought that it would be easier to refer to them as forces of nature. Storms, winter, volcanoes and now death. And even though they're applicable everywhere, well… they had to spawn** _ **somewhere**_ **. And the nation where they spawned is the nation they consider to be theirs.**


	123. Chapter 122

**Thanks to eldwist, Tomatoes, Harmony Houston, Elsa and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 122**

South had just managed to pierce his sword in Japan's chest when he heard a cry of rage. He turned to see Cambodia rushing at him with Japan's fallen sword, and South pulled his own sword out fast enough to block the blow.

"Bastard!" Cambodia shouted.

"What took you so long?" South taunted.

Cambodia had been watching the three battles with Taiwan. He was working on keeping her safe, while also wondering if he should help any of the others. It took him a while to notice the position that Japan was in, and he tried to get Japan's sword, but before he could attack, he saw South stab Japan in the heart.

At least he hadn't had time to carve out the heart. If Japan could just be moved outside of the danger zone…

He kept attacking South, careful not to accidentally hit Japan. After a while his plan worked, and South was forced to his feet as he attempted to block and counter. Once South was no longer on top of Japan, Taiwan rushed to his side.

"You'll be okay," Taiwan whispered as she grabbed Japan by the armpits.

Japan was biting his lip as his body was assaulted by pain, and Cambodia and South kept trading blows. South glanced towards Japan and chuckled.

"Bastard!" Cambodia repeated. "How can you find this funny?"

"Because Japan will die," South said mirthfully.

"What? No! He wasn't shot by those bullets, and you didn't carve out the heart…"

"Do you think that those are our only methods?"

Cambodia was silenced, and South glanced towards Japan again, seeing that Taiwan was also watching him with wide eyes.

"We have a potion that can rob a nation of their status as nations," South said. "It's how we killed Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Monaco, France… It's the same potion that Norway was fed. You see… We knew that we most likely wouldn't have time to carve out any hearts to kill anyone that way, and we _really_ didn't want to have all the joy stolen by simply shooting everyone. Why do you think we're fighting with swords? We wanted to relish the fight, but we also knew that there were many of you here, and the moment we tried to carve out someone's heart, someone else would stop us. Kind of like what you just did. So, those of us who have every intention of _killing_ someone… We soaked our blades in the potion."

Cambodia's eyes widened, and he let out a small, shocked squeak.

"Of course, in these doses, a simple cut wouldn't be enough to rob a nation of their status," South said. "We needed to aim for something vital. The heart, or any of the other organs. The potion gets to work, and combined with a fatal wound…"

"No…" Cambodia whimpered.

"The potion prevents healing as it rewrites the victim's system. And once Japan fully ceases to be a nation, the wound would end up killing him. After all, I _did_ get the heart."

Cambodia gritted his teeth as he used all his strength to push South back, though the Korean wasn't too bothered. He was too busy enjoying the other Asian's anguish.

Vietnam glanced over to what was happening with Japan's battle when she noticed that Japan was injured. Her eyes widened, but she had to quickly block North's next attack. North smirked.

"Looks like you noticed what Yong just did," North said. "Japan will die, and there's nothing that can save him."

Vietnam's eyes widened, and North's smirk turned into an intrigued smile as he glanced down at her right hand.

"Interesting," he said. "Looks like sparks had already started to fly."

Vietnam realised what he meant, and it was only then that she realised that she _had_ felt her feelings for Japan grow, but she hadn't noticed. And now… Now it would be too late.

She was torn between wanting to go to Japan's side and finishing off North Korea. But no matter what, she had to keep focused. She couldn't give him an opening to attack her too. She couldn't afford to die.

Taiwan was desperately trying to staunch Japan's bleeding, but it was a futile effort. He looked to be in pain, and he wasn't healing at all. She couldn't believe that this was happening. To her, this experience was probably the cruellest torture that she had been forced to endure: to be completely helpless while someone's life was ebbing away.

"I'm sorry," Japan whispered, blood starting to stream from his mouth.

"What are you sorry for?" Taiwan asked, and she could feel the tears streaming down her face as her throat constricted, trying to keep the tears inside and failing miserably.

"I'm sorry for… everything."

He went still, and it took a moment for Taiwan to realise that she wasn't feeling Japan's heartbeat, and that it was her own pulse. She looked into the empty brown pools and saw that they were filled with tears, but completely blank.

She never thought it was possible to see more emotion in Japan's eyes when he was dead than when he was alive.

…

"Shit," Bangladesh muttered.

Bhutan had been one of the nations that had been caught by the bombs. He had managed to drag himself away while Amodi had been distracted by the undead nations, but it was still very hard to do so. He had been too close, and not only did his back suffer from second-degree burns, but some of the shrapnel had been imbedded in his back and the backs of his legs. Dragging himself to their designated house had been tricky, but now they had to treat his injuries.

One thing was certain: There was no way that Bhutan could participate in the battle.

"You don't think the bombs were 'special', do you?" Myanmar asked worriedly.

"N-no," Bhutan whimpered, shaking his head. "I don't think so. This just… hurts like hell."

"I think you're right," Bangladesh said. "They wouldn't try to use bombs that could permanently kill us. Not if they had people they wanted to capture."

Myanmar looked disturbed, but he nodded his head in understanding.

"This seriously looks bad," Myanmar said.

"Don't think about how it _looks_ ," Bangladesh snapped. "Focus on how much it must hurt. And what we can do to treat these wounds."

"Th-thanks," Bhutan muttered, before going limp.

Myanmar sighed.

"Perhaps it's a good thing he passed out," Myanmar said. "Come on, we need to treat these wounds."

"No kidding," Bangladesh said. "Hopefully no one from Amodi comes here."

"… _You_ tend to Bhutan, and I'll protect you two."

"Alright."

…

Confederacy came to a sudden stop, her teeth gritted in anger. America had just… disappeared. He was no longer there.

And she couldn't remember where she had seen the movement. Which meant that she would need to go _looking_ for a victim.

So close. She had been _so_ close!

With a huff, she turned around, planning to find someone to torture. She needed to vent her anger. And she was sure that the others wouldn't mind her company.

…

"Whoa," Jethou said, looking around. "This place…"

"It's a lot further along than the place _we_ were staying at," Gibraltar said.

"Well, this place used to be a plantation before being abandoned," America said distractedly, before he carried Madeira to one of the houses.

The new arrivals looked around, admiring the scenery. Picardy noticed someone familiar in the distance.

"Vilnius?" he questioned.

They turned to him and followed his gaze, seeing the younger girl at the outskirts of the town.

"She doesn't really like being around other people," Cornwall remarked.

"At least she's okay," Catalonia said, before looking around. "Um, where's Quebec?"

Serbia and Nepal had approached them, and once they heard the question, both of them cringed.

"Um, about that," Serbia said. "You're going to have to sit down."

…

Senegal entered the library, where he saw Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Chad, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. The new Haiti was with Algeria, and the two were speaking quietly in French.

It wasn't too surprising to see a large collection of nations in the library. It was very rare that they were allowed to go outside, and they were mostly kept in the dark about what was happening. They weren't allowed to watch the news, and any news channels had been disabled. They also didn't have access to the internet. Of course, they knew about the communication being cut off outside of Amodi's nations, but since they were all territories of Amodi, they _did_ have access to communication services. It was just that their captors were keeping them in the dark.

There wasn't that much to do at the base. Some of the nations would watch movies or cartoons on the TVs, while others would come to the library to read. Some of them went for fiction, others non-fiction. Those with a preference for the non-fiction felt that it was a good idea to work on their general knowledge, while those going after fiction chose it as an escape from their fate.

The others mostly ignored Senegal until he was standing next to them, sighing to alert them that he hadn't come for a book.

"Do any of you practice magic in some form?" Senegal asked.

"Magic?" Algeria questioned, before frowning. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Somalia wants to know."

"Since when are you his errand boy?" Botswana asked suspiciously.

"Would you rather that I told him 'no' and risk getting hurt?"

No one answered, and they relaxed a bit.

"Also, I suggest staying away from the common room for a while," Senegal continued. "Somalia is there, and he's not in a good mood."

He couldn't stop the small smile on his face, and Chad narrowed his eyes.

"What's so funny?" Chad asked.

"He's upset because he's the only African Amodi nation that's single, and apparently Ethiopia and Peru are making up for lost time," Senegal said.

"What?!" Zimbabwe questioned. "What… how… why…?"

"I noticed that Peru was here," Tunisia said. "So, he and Ethiopia are together?"

"Apparently," Senegal said. "And so are Libya and Eritrea."

The others shuddered.

"As long as _we_ don't have to see them acting lovey-dovey," Zimbabwe said.

"So, none of you use magic in any way?" Senegal asked.

To their surprise, Haiti raised her hand.

"I know some voodoo," she said timidly. "The other Haiti made sure that I would know that, before…"

She fell silent, and there was no reason to prompt her to continue.

"I also know something similar," Botswana said.

"And then there's Khoisan," Swaziland said.

Zimbabwe immediately clamped his hand on Swaziland's mouth, and Botswana looked uncomfortably at the others, who were merely confused.

"Amodi is _not_ to know about him," Zimbabwe hissed, before releasing Swaziland's mouth.

"Who are you talking about?" Algeria asked.

Zimbabwe waved her off.

"Never mind," he said. "So, Haiti and Botswana can use magic, or a type of magic. So, go ahead and tell Somalia."

Senegal looked conflicted, before shrugging. If there was something that Zimbabwe didn't want Amodi to find out about, then it would be best not to pry. And keeping information from them was a way of protesting their situation. And if Amodi didn't _know_ that they were withholding information, then there was no reason for them to get into trouble about it.

…

Turkey gritted his teeth as he was fighting Switzerland. He was having trouble, and it wasn't because Switzerland was stronger than him or anything. In fact, strength-wise, they seemed to be equally matched. But Turkey had another problem that made things difficult for him.

"Looks like you don't understand the concept of 'honour'," Turkey muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Switzerland asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The fire in Istanbul."

Switzerland looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Switzerland asked.

"There's a fire in Istanbul," Turkey said. "It's already spread to about three quarters of the city. I find it odd that a fire like this would start on the day you came to attack."

Switzerland cocked his head to the side.

"That _is_ strange," Switzerland said. "But we're not the ones responsible."

"And why do I find that so hard to believe?" Turkey asked.

"Look, we decided beforehand that we wouldn't use any cheap tricks to weaken you. It would be more satisfying to defeat you without something like that. So, it wasn't any of us."

Turkey frowned, before trying to think of the cause of the fire.

"…There were bombs," Turkey said.

"And I'm telling you, it wasn't _us_ ," Switzerland snapped.

…

Panarus was watching the battle from above, smiling at the nations below. So much chaos… It was quite delicious.

He could easily identify the others, even without accessing Quebec's memories. His eyes found Turkey and Russia and he felt especially pleased. They were clearly suffering from the effects of his presence in their countries.

He wondered if he should mess with someone else. It would certainly cause more chaos. Unfortunately, he was bound by honour to not attack any of Canada's allies. And just because Canada died, didn't mean that the agreement became null and void. It was a shame. He couldn't mess with anyone because it would create an advantage.

However…

He grinned. It was perfect. His eyes wandered around, seeing all of the nations as he imagined all the ways that he could mess with them.

His eyes then wandered to the wooded area and his smile disappeared. It would seem that they had disappeared. Madeira, Catalonia, Gibraltar… all of them were gone. He wanted to kill them so that he didn't have to deal with the potential risk.

It was a shame that he needed to be in a nation's country before he could find the nation themselves. And while he could simply go to one of their lands to arrive with the regions, it was too much of a hassle, especially with entertainment nearby. He didn't want to leave the battlefield until the fighting ceased.

He would wait for a while longer before he set his plan into motion. Everything needed to be done at the perfect time.

…

New Jersey winced in pain, and he immediately went to the door, making sure that it was safe before he slipped out. He knew that Liechtenstein was in his land, killing his people in order to pinpoint his location. Which was why, whenever he felt her killing someone, he immediately moved to change his hiding spot. It was tiring, but he had a feeling that it was the only thing keeping him alive.

Perhaps he should change cities. It would certainly throw her off for a while. And if he managed to get his hands on a car, he could buy himself some time.

He was willing to do anything for the sake of survival.

…

"Alright then," Romania said. "There isn't anyone else in your group that can use magic, is there?"

Norway and Faroe exchanged a nervous look.

"Well," Faroe said, "there's Cornwall, Isle of Man and Michoacán, but…"

Norway looked pained, and Finland cocked his head to the side, as though he realised something.

"You didn't flee into random houses, did you?" Finland asked. "This was all planned."

"Which means that the others are involved in traps," Romania said, realising the situation as well.

Faroe shifted nervously, and Norway stared at them firmly.

"What are you going to do now?" Norway asked.

"We'll see if we can find those two," Romania sighed. "But for now, you two need to _sleep_."

…

Gaza slipped into an empty house, before he examined his legs. Both of them had been caught by the blasts from the bombs, and would take some time to heal.

He remained completely silent, the sounds of battle being heard from outside. After a while he clapped his hands on his ears, hoping to block out the sound as tears streamed down his face. And when he closed his eyes, the scene of Palestine's death kept flashing through his mind.

He had lost his sister in such a cruel fashion. And the way Israel simply killed her… Israel didn't even look as though it was anything more than something that needed to be done simply to get it out of the way. The callous way in which he'd killed Palestine and raised his gun to Gaza…

He sobbed, and he curled up into a ball, hoping that none of the Amodi nations found him. He didn't want to die. Especially not by their hands.

…

Portugal bit his lip as they were all watching a movie. He couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Something had happened with Madeira. A glance towards Azores showed that the other was also worried about something happening.

He couldn't help but think that it had something to do with Romano's absence. That somehow, Romano was involved, even if it wasn't directly. All of his instincts were screaming at him that he needed to find out what was happening, but that involved confronting India about it.

He wasn't looking forward to it, but had a feeling that it would be the only way to find an answer to what was bothering him. He just hoped that it wouldn't be something that made him regret finding out.

…

Netherlands gritted his teeth. So far, none of the Amodi nations had gone looking for him. He supposed that he could go looking for an opponent, but he also didn't want to go out into the open.

He knew that he was a target of Amodi's. Thankfully, they just wanted to capture him, but he still couldn't help but wonder what they would do to him as soon as they _did_ manage to capture him. On one hand, he might be tortured for evading them for so long. On the other…

They might not really do anything, now that he thought about it. After all, it wasn't like he _escaped_. And they wanted him unharmed, so that he could be with Portugal.

…He was still a bit confused about their thoughts, and felt that it would be better to _not_ dwell on that.

 **There was actually an aspect of Japan's death that I wanted to use for someone else, but… well, the situation called for it. In case you're wondering, it's where someone else is pressing their hands against the victim's chest, trying to stop the bleeding, only to feel the victim's heart cease to beat.**

 **Romania made me think about Jeff the Killer for a brief moment…**

 **I updated the allegiance list, or tried to. Lots of characters, and I also finished the next chapter… it was** _ **very**_ **hard to ignore the deaths that happen next chapter. Didn't want to give spoilers. I also posted an explanation of what HCSS means (I've received a few questions regarding that), and why it exists. And a bit of advice against writer's block.**


	124. Chapter 123

**Thanks to Terra, eldwist, Cactus, Harmony Houston, Tomatoes, topaz3, Eternal Nexus Warrior and SansTheLanguage218 for reviewing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 123**

"We need to get the upper hand somehow," Kuwait said.

"I'm open to suggestions," Lebanon said.

They were still watching the battles in front of them, trying to figure out a way to help their allies while avoiding any more injury or death. They had moved Qatar's body to the side, and they wanted to do the same for Isle of Man, but it was still a bit too dangerous to go there.

"Just out of curiosity," Kuwait said, "who do you think would be the easiest target?"

They had received an explanation on each of the micronations, since they hadn't been familiar with any of them. So they knew who was who, and whose lands they inherited.

"I'm not sure," Lebanon said. "Wy inherited part of Australia…"

"Yeah, that's not really an option," Kuwait said dismissively.

"Kugelmugel inherited Austria and parts of Germany…"

"It's Germany's part I'm worried about."

"And Ladonia inherited Sweden."

Kuwait pursed his lips.

"I think we can try to overpower Ladonia," Kuwait said. "We each have knives. And we have a better chance if we team up against them."

Lebanon glanced towards Ladonia and nodded.

"You're right," she said. "Besides, I feel useless on the side lines."

They paused long enough to remove their knives, before they crept towards Ladonia and Yemen. Yemen saw them, but didn't question them. Lebanon and Kuwait exchanged one last look before they launched themselves at Ladonia.

The former micronation was startled, and he instinctively turned around to block them, but Yemen grabbed him from behind, restraining him. Ladonia struggled as he realised the danger he was in, but he could do nothing as Lebanon stabbed him, slashing the knife to create a cut large enough to stick her hand in and grab his heart.

"No!" Kugelmugel and Wy shouted, realising what was happening to their friend but unable to stop it, as Oman and Bahrain kept them occupied.

Lebanon managed to pry Ladonia's heart out, before she threw it to the ground, stomping on it repeatedly. Ladonia tensed and let out one last choked cry before he went completely limp. Wy and Kugelmugel cried out in pain as the black and yellow ribbons appeared.

"You shouldn't have done that," Wy snarled.

…

"David," White said, "let me ask you something."

Israel reacted to the use of his human name, and Brazil took advantage of the brief distraction to slice at Israel's wrist. The older nation gritted his teeth, before smirking and slashing at Brazil's side. The cut was shallow, but it still landed, managing to disorient Brazil.

"What do you want to ask?" Israel asked, briefly glancing towards White.

"Why exactly are you in love with me?" White asked suspiciously.

The question took Israel off-guard, and even Brazil was surprised. But the two quickly launched themselves at each other before the other could take advantage of the situation.

"You want to know why I love you?" Israel repeated.

Neither of the others missed the fact that his tone of voice changed. There was a note of tenderness to it. Israel turned his head slightly to regard White, without allowing Brazil to get too close.

"First off, you were one of the first to acknowledge my independence," Israel said. "After hundreds – actually, _thousands_ – of years of people treating me like a slave, a prize, or something that shouldn't exist, you have no idea what it meant to me. Of course, you weren't _the_ first, but you still accepted my independence before most of the world. And then… I started to get to know you. You're fascinating, to say the least. You're a nation of contradictions, but they all live in harmony. You and Black definitely deserved your title as the Rainbow Nation. As soon as I thought that I managed to figure you out, another side of you was revealed, and I realised that I didn't know you. And I loved the fact that you can keep people guessing. And despite the period when we got to know each other… I could see your kindness. But through that kindness, I could see someone strong and savage. And I don't mean that in a bad way. Even though you represent the European influence in your country, you're still an African. You're beautiful, but not dainty. You're someone that attracts attention, and you have no problem _keeping_ the attention."

White had turned a bit of a red colour, and Brazil was _not_ happy about the situation. He kicked Israel in the stomach, and Israel stepped back, creating some distance between them. Israel smirked.

"I don't have to tell _you_ about how wonderful she is, do I?" Israel asked, taunting Brazil.

"Shut up," Brazil said.

"Why did you join Amodi?" White asked, voice so low that the others barely heard it.

Israel glanced towards her and sighed.

"When Egypt came to recruit me, he gave me two offers," he said. "The first was that I wouldn't have to live with my neighbours anymore. All that fighting, and being the one at a disadvantage regarding numbers… I hated it. The other offer was that I would be reunited with you."

White shook her head.

"David, did you forget?" she asked. "At the end of Apartheid, when the government was changing… _you_ were the one that cut off ties with _me_."

"It wasn't with _you_!" Israel snapped. "It was Black! I didn't want to have to deal with him!"

"And _I_ was the one that handled the external affairs. You didn't _have_ to deal with Black. And yet you _still_ cut off ties with us. Well, not completely, but it still wasn't the way it used to be."

Israel gritted his teeth, but before he could say anything else or try to attack Brazil, he suddenly cried out in pain when the black ribbons around his left hand appeared. Brazil's eyes widened, and he tackled Israel to the ground. The sword flew out of Israel's grasp, and Brazil pointed the knife at his chest.

"It's over," Brazil said, before he raised the knife.

To his surprise and frustration, Israel smirked.

"Are you sure you want to go through with that?" he asked, before glancing towards White.

Brazil followed his gaze and froze. White looked conflicted, and she was watching the situation with wide eyes. Despite everything, she didn't hate Israel enough to want him to die. Especially not in front of her.

And especially not by Brazil's hand.

"Let _me_ ask you a question now," Brazil said, turning to Israel as he lowered the knife. "Why did you lie to her? Why did you manipulate her?"

Israel looked pained, and he closed his eyes.

"Because I knew that she wouldn't be happy when she found out that I was a member of Amodi," he said. "I didn't want her to hate me."

"So, your intention was to lie to her forever?" Brazil asked.

Israel didn't answer, but his eyes snapped open. The two simply stared at each other for a while.

"Enough," White sighed. "David, just… Just surrender, okay?"

Israel pursed his lips, before looking towards her. Brazil kept Israel pinned, and he was breathing heavily. Eventually, though, Israel chuckled.

"You know, Italy wanted me to keep this bastard alive," Israel said. "But I don't think I'm going to oblige."

Israel had used the opportunity to remove the gun from his pocket, and White and Brazil widened their eyes. Israel moved the gun to point at Brazil's forehead, and the South American was paralysed in fear.

Neither of them noticed White moving, until she pushed Brazil out of the way…

…Right as Israel pulled the trigger.

Israel's eyes widened in horror and he let out a cry when he realised what had happened.

"No!" Brazil shouted, as White's body slumped to the ground.

The angle had ensured that she had been shot in the chest.

"No!" Israel exclaimed, scrambling to his knees as Brazil did the same. "I'm sorry. No, please…"

Both of them placed their hands on her wound, and they didn't care about the fact that they both had their hands pressed against her chest. They were just focused on saving the woman they loved.

White gazed up at them with hazy eyes before smiling.

"This is better," she said. "This is how it should be."

"Don't speak," Israel said. "We can… we can fix this. Oh god… I'm so sorry…"

White's mouth twitched.

"Ek's lief vir julle," she whispered, before her smile froze, the light fading from her eyes.

Brazil and Israel's eyes widened when they realised that her heart had stopped. She was dead.

"N-no…" Brazil whispered. "Please, no…"

Tears were streaming down Israel's face, and Brazil was soon to follow. The two of them fell on top of White's body, crying for their lost love.

…

Netherlands shuddered. He had the strange feeling that something had just happened that he wouldn't like…

Just as he thought that, the door to his shelter opened, revealing Seborga and Hutt River. Seborga smiled brightly when they saw him.

"Finally," the former micronation said. "We've been looking all over for you."

Netherlands tensed, taking a step back. Hutt River was glancing around, a revolver held casually at his side.

"You're alone?" Hutt River asked.

"Ja," Netherlands said, eyeing the weapon.

Seborga's smile brightened.

"You've probably heard by now, but we don't want to kill you," Seborga said. "So, just come with us quietly, and it doesn't have to get ugly."

"Do you _honestly_ think I'm going to join you _willingly_?" Netherlands questioned.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to hope."

"Just be smart about this," Hutt River said. "If you come with us, you'll be reunited with Portugal, your old colonies and your siblings."

Netherlands's eyes narrowed.

"There's something about it that I don't quite understand," Netherlands said. "Why go through all of that?"

"Please be more specific," Seborga said.

"Why do you want me?" Netherlands asked. "And… why does it seem as though you're setting up Portugal and I?"

Seborga shrugged.

"You see, we wanted Portugal because of the Age of Discovery," Seborga said. "And because he's an older nation, at least compared to most of our prisoners. With everything that's happening, the others would have subconsciously turned to Portugal for comfort, especially since he has the personality for it. And through him, we could earn the loyalty of a large number of prisoners. He also didn't have anyone that had a particular grudge against him, like Spain."

"And where do _I_ fit into all of this?" Netherlands asked.

"Well, helping you get together boosts our power," Hutt River said. "And it'll also help keep the others cooperative."

Netherlands gritted his teeth, looking between the two of them. He couldn't afford to kill either of them. He couldn't kill one without killing the other, lest he invoked the survivor's wrath. And if Netherlands killed Seborga, then he would have to deal with Italy and Romano. And even if they decided to spare him… Most of his family were prisoners of Amodi. His brother, sister, his old colonies… All it would take would be for Romano to make a phone call to India to punish Netherlands for hurting Seborga. And then there was Portugal.

The two former micronations seemed to realise his dilemma, for Seborga cocked his head to the side as Hutt River smirked.

"You don't want to attack us," Hutt River said. "I don't know if it's because we're young…"

"Not at all," Netherlands said. "But if I harm either of you, I know of the domino effect. I guess I'm more focused on my survival." He turned his attention to Seborga. "That being said, I know how important it is to kill your brother, and if I was given the opportunity, I _will_ take it."

Seborga's smile fell, and Hutt River nervously glanced towards him.

"And what makes you think that you're going to be given that opportunity?" Seborga asked, his voice icy cold.

Netherlands smirked, not because he had a response, but because he managed to find a way to get under Seborga's skin. He knew that there was no way that he could escape, but he wasn't just going to back down.

"So, you've cornered me," Netherlands said. "How are you planning to get me away from here? Because I'm not going to be going willingly."

Hutt River and Seborga exchanged a look, and Seborga shrugged, before Hutt River raised his weapon.

"We may want you _alive_ ," Hutt River said, "but we don't have to take you in _unharmed_."

…

Sealand cried out in pain, and Black grinned when he realised that one of the other members of Amodi had been killed. He took the chance to kick Sealand away, and put some distance between them.

But Sealand apparently lost interest in him, for as soon as he was able, he rushed off to one of the houses. Black wondered idly if the one that was killed was particularly close to Sealand.

Black managed to drag himself over to one of the barely standing shacks. He needed to check on his physical condition. It was made even harder by the fact that he couldn't feel anything. At least he hadn't lost any limbs.

A few minutes passed, before he suddenly felt something tug on his soul. It was accompanied by a particularly close bolt of lightning. The light and thunder that accompanied it was blinding and deafening, and Black was sure that he heard Adamastor screaming in anguish.

"White…" Black whispered.

He didn't have to be told to know that his counterpart had just died. He could feel it in his soul. And he could tell that Adamastor's storms were growing more violent, unleashing more bolts of lightning than before, as though he was angry at the world.

Which he probably was.

Black forced himself to his feet, and he started making his way to White's hiding place. He fell a few times, but he needed to carry on. He needed to see her.

…

Panarus grinned gleefully when he noticed that the storm was growing worse. He could only guess that it was because the nation with personal ties to the force of nature was dead. He could smell the death in the air, after all.

And the best part was that he didn't have to do _anything_ about it.

He knew from Quebec's memories that the storm was called Adamastor, and that he was loyal to South Africa. And since Black South Africa had been killed, White was the one that he owed his loyalty to. And it would seem that she had been killed as well.

From Quebec's memories, he also knew the situation she had been in, and was disappointed that he hadn't seen it for himself. But now he couldn't help but wonder how she had died.

Thinking that it would be great entertainment, he followed the trail of death.

…

Israel and Brazil were still crying over White's corpse, but after a while Israel lifted his head. His face and eyes were red, and he gave an unreadable look towards Brazil.

Brazil yelped in surprise when Israel tackled him, hands wrapping around his throat. Brazil didn't really struggle, and just looked at Israel with wide eyes, and Israel's own narrowed.

"Do you think I'm going to kill you?" Israel asked. "Don't be an ungrateful bastard."

Brazil could see that something had changed in Israel's eyes. The deranged look that had been there when the battle began… It was gone, and replaced with a sorrow that Brazil understood, but also guilt.

"She died, because she tried to save _you_ ," Israel said. "So now, I _can't_ kill you, because that would mean that she died for _nothing_. But… Her last words… What was she saying?"

Israel looked distressed, and Brazil took pity on him.

"She said 'I love you'," Brazil said. "But she used the plural form. So she loved… _both_ of us."

Israel's eyes widened, and his grip loosened a tad, before tightening again. Brazil let out a choked sound.

"I said I wouldn't kill you," Israel said lowly. "But I'm still going to capture you."

To Brazil's surprise, Israel leaned closer.

"And I know that you're going to make good use of what I'm about to tell you," Israel continued. "These Bonds… They have a psychological effect on everyone connected to them. When someone dies… It causes a ripple effect. We can feel the other dying, and it causes desperation that's unfortunately not healthy for our sanity. In fact, these black ribbons in general can affect a person's sanity, leading to what the others call 'snapping'." The corner of his mouth twitched. "Snapping in general only offers temporary relief, and the best way to snap someone out of their… well, in some cases insanity, others it's merely tension… But the best way to snap someone out of it is to… to hurt your lover."

Brazil understood what Israel was trying to tell him. The way he had been before… it was partly because of the Bonds. And losing the one he loved to a rival might not have been the best for his sanity.

"Once the Bonds become unbreakable," Israel continued, "it becomes impossible for any of us to betray each other. Even if it's just to escape. So, I'm a member, even if I don't want to be anymore. And I know Portugal is as well, though it was completely against his will. You escaped from Amodi's captivity. Out of everyone, I think _you_ can make use of this information. And even if it would be more useful, I can't let you go free. If you manage to escape again, then they're going to make sure that you're punished when they eventually _do_ capture you. With Anika dead… That should be enough punishment for you. Then again, there's a chance they'll give you to _me_ for punishment."

Brazil nodded his head, and Israel gave a small smile, before tightening his grip. Brazil was losing consciousness fast, but everything that needed to be said, had been.

 **I realised that out of all the languages I'm familiar with, Afrikaans is the only one that doesn't use the same word for different pronouns (at least not in the same context). English has 'you' as the second person singular, plural and formal singular. French has 'vous' for second person plural and formal singular. German has 'sie' for 'she', 'they' and formal 'you' (though in written form, they at least capitalise it for formal 'you'). And Mandarin uses 'tā' for 'he', 'she' and 'it' (though the characters are slightly different, in pinyin and spoken, it's the same). Anyway, when White said 'Ek hou van jou', she used second person singular. This time, she said the plural form. And this time, Brazil has no doubts about what she's saying. She clearly says 'love', but she said it to both of them, and making them know that it's directed to both of them.**

 **And now, Israel has to live with the guilt of killing the woman he loves, and Brazil has to live with the fact that she died to save him.**

 **Amodi knows full well what the Bonds are doing to them, but for the most part, they don't care, because the Bonds are messing with their minds. Israel took the moment of clarity he received to tell Brazil** _ **exactly**_ **what's going on.**

 **And I killed my country…** _ **again**_ **. I think we can safely say that** _ **no one**_ **is safe in this story. I mean, some of my favourite characters are Canada, China, France, Egypt, Spain, Portugal, Norway… What happened to** _ **them**_ **in this story? And there's more to come.**


	125. Chapter 124

**Thanks to Harmony Houston, BlazeSilvermageVII, SansTheLanguage218, Eternal Nexus Warrior and an anon for reviewing.**

 **There was a guest review asking about the human populations. Firstly, Amodi likes to use their people as puppets, especially those that emigrated to other countries (but only up to five generations). They've also disconnected that what happens to them doesn't really affect the humans too much. Secondly, the fate of the non-Amodi nations. Since communications are cut off, the humans are basically scrambling around, trying to fix it or going on with their lives as much as possible. Some of them aren't even aware of the fact that there's a war going on. So, when a city is attacked… And when a nation dies, it was stated in past chapters that ten percent of the population dies. But they don't just drop dead… It can be anything from an epidemic, to a disaster (natural or otherwise). I think I mentioned when Black died, there were a lot of fires to kill some of his people. Suicide and mass murder are also possibilities. And then there's the fact that one of Amodi's methods of killing a nation is to first wipe out** _ **everyone**_ **living in their countries. And with nations being captured and escaping… Everything's happening so fast that the human governments can't keep up. It's for that reason that the non-Amodi nations have started disconnecting from their lands, if only to avoid all of this and for them to step in to fix it when everything has settled.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 124**

"You're kidding!" Gibraltar exclaimed, looking horrified.

Serbia and Nepal had filled the regions in on everything that had happened on their end. Including the fact that Quebec had been captured and was now playing host to a horrifying force.

"Unfortunately, it's all true," Nepal said.

"And you're saying that the only way to snap him out of it is for one of the girls to kiss him?" Picardy asked.

"Pretty much," Serbia said.

There was silence after that.

"And… how do we _find_ him?" Catalonia asked.

" _That_ is a good question," Serbia sighed.

…

Ulimaroa and Antarctica had pulled apart, and both of them were panting in exhaustion. They were relatively equal in strength, though Antarctica had the benefit of being bound to allies while Ulimaroa had a human population to sustain him.

It was a rather interesting fight. Antarctica was coldness personified, while Ulimaroa was fuelled by heat. The two cancelled each other out.

And they were both aware of the fact that the reason why they were fighting in the first place had gone. The prisoners were gone. No one for Ulimaroa to save, and no one for Antarctica to guard. But neither of them was willing to withdraw.

Ulimaroa smirked, and Antarctica narrowed his eyes, though his lips also formed a small smile. Round two.

…

"You're stronger than your size would imply," Germany remarked.

Poland scoffed, cracking his knuckles.

"Never judge someone's strength based on appearances," Poland said.

Germany snorted, but he had to agree. He knew that Poland had manage to dislocate the shoulder of one arm and the elbow of the other arm. But Germany had managed to get Poland as well. The shorter blond was rubbing his jaw, and Germany could hear a clicking sound. All things considered, it was a victory. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

And it would seem as though Germany was having better luck than some of his allies. France was leaning against a nearby wall, holding his arm, which had been severed by Italy. Italy also managed to slice France's leg, severing a few ligaments and inhibiting movement. France tried to move, but without being able to feel the severity of the damage, it was a useless attempt.

"You can't move much anymore, can you?" Italy remarked, cocking his head to the side. "Then I think we're finished here."

France gritted his teeth as Italy turned and walked away. He knew that it meant that Italy would be searching for someone else to fight. To say that France was feeling useless was an understatement.

France closed his eyes, wincing. He could feel something akin to fingernails scraping at his mind. He knew that this was one of the things that they spoke of. Placing souls in non-functioning bodies was not a good idea. Especially once those bodies lost their ability to move. Because that was when the soul was reminded of the fact that it didn't belong. And they couldn't even cry anymore, no matter how much they wanted to.

Afghanistan was faring well against Libya, and she had a wide grin on her face when she realised that fact. Libya was getting rather annoyed, since he was receiving more blows than he was giving.

"Huh, I realised something," Afghanistan said. "Something that would definitely make you slip off the deep end and join them in the first place."

"And what's that?" Libya asked.

"Considering your looks… You must have been so annoyed with others making fun of you. How many times have you had to prove your gender?"

Libya gritted his teeth, but didn't answer.

"And the reason why you joined Amodi," Afghanistan continued, "was because Poland and Italy could understand your pain. I mean, didn't everyone think that Italy was a girl until he hit puberty? And Poland… He isn't exactly the most masculine. Is he still crossdressing? Does he drag _you_ into it as well?"

"Shut up!" Libya shouted, dropping his sword and instead deciding to punch her.

Afghanistan smirked, grabbing his wrist and throwing him to the ground, pinning him down and removing a dagger from her clothes.

She knew that Libya's androgynous appearance was a sore spot for him, especially considering the region he found himself in. Both of them, actually. The African women weren't dainty, and neither were the Middle Eastern women – well, Lebanon might be an exception. And the men of the two regions were either muscular or had a mystical air about them. Libya, on the other hand… His frame suited a woman of European aristocracy. Combined with his full lips and long eyelashes, it wasn't hard for people to be confused. He kept his messy black hair quite short, but it _still_ wasn't enough.

Hitting his berserk button was the perfect way for her to gain the upper hand.

She glanced over to where Madagascar was fighting Eritrea, and bit her lip when she realised that the island nation was having a rough time. As soon as she finished Libya, she would have to move fast.

She knew that someone in Amodi had already died, and she was about to add another death.

Turning back to Libya, she noticed that he was struggling, but she couldn't feel anything. She smirked, before raising her dagger.

Eritrea smirked as he threw Madagascar around like a rag doll. She was having a hard time in that body, and upon noticing it, he turned gleeful. His leaders were right.

He suddenly felt an intense amount of pain ripping through his soul, and he screamed. His eyes widened in realisation, and he turned to Libya's direction, feeling horror and rage unlike any other pulsing through his veins.

"No!" he screamed, launching himself at Afghanistan.

Afghanistan moved fast, bringing her dagger up as she stood up, managing to stab Eritrea in the heart. He tried to reach out for her, but it had no effect as she carved out his heart, before eating it, as it was the best way of destroying the heart. It helped that she could no longer taste anything.

Eritrea fell down beside Libya, the tips of their fingers barely touching.

Everyone was staring at the sight. Italy and Poland looked angry, but Poland couldn't do anything, as Germany immediately took advantage of the situation. Argentina was straddling Jordan, her mouth surrounded by blood as Jordan struggled underneath her. Argentina was looking at Afghanistan, before yelping as Jordan threw her off.

Afghanistan turned to Jordan and glared.

"You know, you're no fun," Argentina said. "You're not screaming. And your taste is awful."

Jordan narrowed her eyes. It was without a doubt one of the best definitions of mixed feelings: to have a cannibal being disgusted by your taste. Of course, it could be the fact that Jordan was already dead, but it was still a bit insulting.

But it was also quite satisfying. Nothing annoyed a sadist more than encountering someone that either didn't react to the torture, or _enjoyed_ it. It robbed a sadist of their joy, and was a good way to torture them. Again, since Jordan was already dead, she couldn't feel a thing. Which made it frustrating for Argentina, who was definitely a sadist. Possibly the biggest one out of the South Americans in Amodi's group.

"Then I guess you'll actually have to _fight_ me," Jordan said. "Or don't you think you can do that?"

Argentina narrowed her eyes.

"You're going down," she spat.

…

Finland and Romania made their way towards their aircraft, Faroe on Finland's shoulder and Norway on Romania's. For extra measure, Romania had cast a spell to ensure that the two of them would remain unconscious. It served two functions: The first was to avoid suspicion, while the second was to keep the two out of trouble.

They were careful to avoid any of the battles. They didn't want to get side-tracked, and they didn't want their new prisoners' allies to notice their predicament and come to their aid.

They paused when they saw what happened to Libya and Eritrea, ignoring the pain that accompanied their deaths. That meant that they already had three deaths. They needed to get an advantage, and fast.

Italy seemed to be able to sense their presence, for he turned to regard them. He nodded mutely, and the two took it as their cue to continue with their task.

Once that was done, Finland returned to the battlefield, while Romania remained with the prisoners. He took the time to restrain them, and once that was done he sighed, looking at the outside.

He hoped that Finland stayed safe. Romania didn't like the fact that their enemies had been lucky thrice. And without being able to tell how many of _them_ had died, it unnerved him.

Romania would much rather go back to the battlefield, but he knew that he would need to act as guard. He also couldn't afford to die. Not with Panarus still around. Technically speaking, Belarus should also be careful, but she was determined to become an only child. And considering how long she was forced to wait, it was understandable.

It still didn't mean that everyone was happy about it.

…

Tajikistan screamed into the gag as Kazakhstan pulled a piece of shrapnel out of his leg. Tajikistan had been caught by the bombs, though not directly. He wasn't close enough for them to do _much_ damage, but he was unfortunately caught in the path of the shrapnel from the shacks. Especially the metal plates.

Slovenia winced in sympathy as he watched Kazakhstan pull out the pieces of shrapnel. He could only imagine how much it had to hurt. He shivered slightly. Kazakhstan had told him to remove his shirt in order to create the gag for Tajikistan, much to both of their dismay. Tajikistan didn't feel comfortable of having a sweaty shirt in his mouth, but they eventually relented when Kazakhstan pointed out that they didn't want Amodi to hear them while Tajikistan was being treated.

It was a bit tricky to do it, as they didn't have any medical supplies. And Slovenia had no hope of getting his shirt back, as the actual shirt had been too large to comfortably stuff into Tajikistan's mouth. And they needed some bandages…

Slovenia was also avoiding the windows as much as possible. While he was curious about how the battle outside was going, he had caught sight of Romania earlier, and didn't want to see him again.

Seeing Romania had brought back a flood of memories. He could clearly remember his friends and family members being brutally murdered by Romania. He remembered what Romania did to Serbia as well. He had thought that he would want to get revenge, and while he _did_ want it, he kept flashing back to what happened, and remembered the absolute fear. He also remembered that there was a promise of a continuation, and was worried that Romania would finish what he had started.

"Slovenia, are you okay?" Kazakhstan asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Y-yeah," he said, swallowing thickly.

Kazakhstan looked concerned for a moment, before turning her attention back to Tajikistan. The latter cried out in pain as she pried a stone out of his leg – apparently, even a few stones had been sent flying.

Slovenia seriously hoped that Amodi didn't find them. He especially hoped that Romania didn't find them.

…

Everyone turned to see Vilnius approaching, and she looked up at them tiredly. America sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"I guess it's been a long day," he said. "We should probably head to bed."

The others all nodded in agreement, and after pointing out a few empty houses for the new arrivals, everyone went to their own places.

…

Belarus glared at Russia. She knew that he wasn't fighting to his full potential, and was rather insulted. She wanted to prove that she was the stronger between the two, and it was difficult to do if one of them was taking it easy on the other.

But Russia _wasn't_ taking it easy on her. Not deliberately. He was having a hard time because of the heat wave and cold front attacking his country. And while it wasn't too odd to encounter different weather patterns, given Russia's size, the heat wave and cold front kept spreading. One side of the country had the temperature continue to increase, while the other continued to decrease. He knew that it wasn't natural, and the way that it kept spreading…

He idly wondered what would happen if the two extremes met in the centre of the country.

"Enough of this!" Belarus snapped, startling Russia. "Fight me seriously!"

Russia narrowed his eyes. At least now he knew that, if it _was_ unnatural, then Amodi wasn't to blame. Belarus would have taunted him about it by now. She wouldn't be telling him to fight seriously.

And Russia wasn't about to tell her that the weather in his country was having an effect on him.

So he closed his eyes, trying _very_ hard to disconnect from his country, before he started to attack again.

…

Romano looked at all of the battles, keeping a particularly close eye on Italy. Once he saw that France was out of commission he relaxed, before looking around again. He considered looking for Seborga, but Italy was the one being pretty close to direct danger.

Romano had always been physically weaker than his younger brother, and he didn't mind it too much. There was more to life than physical strength. Being an analyst was just an important skill, especially if his brother intended to be a schemer.

Part of Romano's mask had been to keep others at a distance, and it served its function. Romano was capable of seeing what the other nations were like when they weren't trying to befriend him. Though, some of them still _tried_. He was able to tell how patient a nation was through insults and swearing. And afterwards, he would still watch them. When they weren't trying to interact with him, then he could see more of the truth.

Spain was actually quite patient. His smiles sometimes made him look like an idiot, but it took Romano a while to realise that a lot of the time, Spain would smile in order to prevent himself from losing his temper. He also tested as much as possible to see how dangerous Spain was when _actually_ angry. It… it was something that needed to be avoided. Luckily, Spain tended to ignore his own strength, and he kept his temper in check, because in the aftermath, Spain tended to be horrified by what he'd done. It was one of the reasons why they decided to kill Spain early. If he had been given time to have his anger build, then it would have proven chaotic.

Romano could see a hint of it in Russia's eyes, and he hoped that Belarus finished Russia soon, before he had time to unleash his anger. Romano could see that Russia was, in fact, trying to hold in his anger. But he also noticed something else. Russia was physically affected by something. And it was messing with his fighting. And since Belarus wanted to prove herself to be stronger, she didn't appreciate the fact that Russia wasn't fighting to his full potential.

Romano's entire fake personality had been built around analysing the other nations. He knew when to act aggressive, and when to act as the coward. He surrendered all his information to Italy, and his brother's plan came to fruition. It was only through a few strokes of bad luck that things were falling apart, but it wouldn't matter for much longer. Soon, things would balance out.

Italy had always been the stronger one, protecting Romano without the other nations realising what was going on. And now, Romano was returning the favour. The reason why he wasn't engaged in a battle was in order to keep an eye on his little brother.

Italy looked over towards him, and the two of them nodded at each other, before Italy entered a battle with Afghanistan. Romano was immediately alert. He would keep a close eye on the battle, and if he sensed that things would turn badly for Italy, then he would step in to protect his little brother.

…

Israel leaned back, sighing as he released Brazil's neck. He had only strangled the younger nation to the point where he would lose consciousness, but he knew that he could continue, kill Brazil. It would only be a temporary death, but in some way it would be quite satisfying.

He turned his attention to White's corpse and felt a tear run down his cheek. It was his fault that she was dead. Just as it was Brazil's fault. She died when she had pushed Brazil out of the way, but Israel was the one to pull the trigger. All because he was consumed by anger. If he had just kept a calm mind… If he had just decided to capture Brazil, as he was _actually_ supposed to do, instead of thinking of getting Brazil out of the way, then White would still be alive. All because he was upset that he had lost their battle.

"Poor little Israel."

He tensed, his eyes widening and his blood turning cold. He recognised the voice. He hadn't heard it in thousands of years, but he would recognise it anywhere. He, like many other nations of the time, had been targeted by the owner of the voice. Thinking about it, it was probably one of the earliest examples of nations acting independently from their people.

Israel gulped nervously, before turning to see Panarus. Though the face was severely different, the eyes reflected the evil within.

"P-Panarus…" Israel stuttered.

Panarus smirked, before looking at the other two nations in the room. He shook his head with an amused smile on his face.

"I enjoy seeing destruction caused by someone's own hand," Panarus said, before suddenly disappearing.

Israel trembled in fear. Panarus was free. But what did he want?

Israel jumped when the door was opened, and he turned to see Black standing there. The two simply stared at each other. Israel was absorbing the shock of seeing Panarus again, while Black was taking in the sight of an unconscious Brazil and a dead White.

It was a game to see who snapped at the other's presence first.

 **I realised while writing this chapter that it should be night with America's group. I mentioned sunlight a few chapters back, so I changed it to be a campfire. And even though they're not exactly tired, the new arrivals are a bit mentally exhausted because of everything that's happened on their end. So, this will probably be the last chapter featuring America's group before the battle ends.**

 **The reason for Libya's appearance: Usually, when I think of the name of a nation I can immediately decide their gender, and learning more about them helps me with personality and appearance. Libya, on the other hand… My brain couldn't decide whether Libya is male or female. I was sure that I originally made him male, but then I wasn't sure, and to my annoyance, I discovered that I didn't use any pronouns with Libya for a** _ **long**_ **while, so I couldn't even rely on** _ **that**_ **. And I tried to check with Game of Mirrors to see whether or not I created a male or female Libya… Nope. So eventually I decided that, yes, Libya is male, but because of the problems he gave me, I made him be rather androgynous. Poor guy can't even grow facial hair to help him out.**

 **And Lebanon… With her, I picture a belly dancer. I can't help it. She's certainly the most feminine of the Middle Eastern women, but she's not frail. Anyone who's done belly dancing would know that you need to use your muscles, and they need to be strong for that. I also practiced belly dancing, but due to my ankle injury a few months ago I couldn't do it at all. And it usually doesn't take this long to heal. I blame the French medical service (seriously, a month and three x-rays to confirm that it isn't broken, just sprained – the same thing that I've been saying since the start, with the x-rays just to be safe). Yesterday was actually the first time that I've tried belly dancing again. The muscles and tendons are still a bit sore and stiff, and I've also been doing tai chi in an attempt to strengthen it. And even yoga is a bit painful.**

 **One of my definitions of mixed feelings is to learn that a cannibal hates your taste. On one hand, that's a good thing, on the other, you're wondering what's wrong with you to make you taste bad.**

 **Lots of characters… Lots of things happening… I'm trying to keep track of all of them, but some things are probably going to finish before others, even if the battle is far from over.**


	126. Chapter 125

**Thanks to BelgianHetalian, Undecidedanimelover, SansTheLanguage218 and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.**

 **Sorry about the delay. I returned to South Africa, but now I'm back in South Africa. And suffering from jetlag.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

 **Chapter 125**

Philippines glanced over towards Japan's corpse and smirked. Even though she wasn't the one that killed him, she was incredibly satisfied by the way that he had died. And seeing the other nations' reactions to his death was also delicious.

Singapore, for example, hadn't missed Japan's death at all, and she was having a hard time against Philippines. She was distracted, and Philippines made use of the opportunity presented to her. It was all that Singapore could do to protect herself.

"Aw, were you getting close to Japan?" Philippines taunted.

"Bitch," Singapore hissed.

"Language."

"Shut up!"

Philippines cackled at Singapore's anger and desperation. And as much as she wanted to continue torturing her, there was still Taiwan to deal with. And Philippines wanted to kill as many as possible.

She didn't even let the death of one of her allies affect her, but she was a little disturbed when she realised that it was one of the former micronations. Still so young.

Philippines managed to knock Singapore's sword out of her grasp and didn't hesitate and immediately pierced her in the heart. Singapore gasped and tensed at the sudden pain, Philippines chuckled.

"This sword is coated by a potion that robs a nation of their status as a nation," Philippines explained. "This will kill you before you can heal."

Philippines was momentarily distracted by another death of an ally, and Singapore tackled her to the ground. Singapore removed the sword from her chest, and Philippines was in the process of trying to kick her off when _another_ death made its presence known. And while she was distracted by _that_ , Singapore pierced Philippines's own sword through her abdomen, mustering enough strength to be able to pin Philippines to the ground.

Singapore was gasping for breath, her impending death making her weak. But she was desperate to take Philippines with her. She removed a dagger, and Philippines's eyes widened in shocked realisation.

"Go to hell," Singapore said, before she plunged the dagger into Philippines's chest.

Philippines screamed and struggled as Singapore made a large gash in her chest, large enough to put her hand in. And Singapore didn't hesitate before reaching in and grabbing Philippines's heart, yanking it out while squeezing as hard as she could.

Philippines shrieked and jerked desperately, before she fell limp, her eyes growing blank. In the background, North and South Korea cried out in pain.

Singapore smiled in satisfaction, before collapsing on top of Philippines.

…

Sealand managed to reach the place where he could sense his friends. He immediately noticed that Kugelmugel and Wy were engaged in battle, but Ladonia was lying there, dead. Lebanon, Kuwait and Yemen were standing over Ladonia's body.

Sealand removed his gun, aiming carefully. He didn't care which one he hit, he just wanted to hit one of them. But suddenly Bahrain and Wy got between him and them, and he gritted his teeth. With Wy and Kugelmugel engaged in battle, it was too risky to shoot. He couldn't risk accidentally hitting one of his friends.

Unless he managed to find another way.

To his dismay, however, the three of them noticed him, and they were immediately alert. Yemen looked a bit dismayed, and Kuwait narrowed his eyes.

It would seem that being a sniper wasn't in the cards for Sealand.

…

"Okay, good job with the gun," Seborga complimented. "But maybe we should have tried to force him to walk back with us. Because now we have to carry him."

"He can't be that heavy," Hutt River said.

"He's tall. And dead weight."

Hutt River had the foresight to have a regular handgun with him. None of their special ammunition. Seborga was the one that carried a gun with the purpose of killing. But since they had gone out to capture, they knew that it would be better to give their target a temporary death, instead of risking a permanent one.

Hutt River sighed, understanding what exactly Seborga was complaining about. They were a lot stronger than they used to be, but they still weren't strong enough for heavy lifting. Without saying anything, Hutt River crouched down and lifted Netherlands's arm, wrapping it around his shoulder. Seborga shook his head, before he did the same on the other side.

"One, two, three," Hutt River counted, before they stood.

They stumbled a bit under Netherlands's weight, and they had to quickly regain their balance before they started to walk, Netherlands's feet dragging behind him.

"You know, we could have made this fun," Seborga pointed out.

"If we did that, we could be doing something stupid, and we wouldn't have Netherlands," Hutt River said. "We don't want to risk another chance for him to escape."

"True, I guess. Still, it seems a bit anticlimactic."

"…We can go look for opponents once Netherlands is restrained. Hopefully, someone else managed to capture a prisoner and is keeping watch."

Seborga shuddered.

"I hope Israel didn't capture South Africa yet," Seborga said. "I do _not_ want to walk in on _that_."

"It'll be like what San Marino does to everyone else," Hutt River said, looking torn between amusement and cringing.

…

San Marino sneezed, and Vatican gave him a brief glance before looking at the monitors again. They were looking for anything that happened in any of the other bases, and they were also keeping an eye on the prisoners that had relocated to the living room and were watching TV.

…

Somalia groaned in pain as someone else died. He couldn't tell whether or not things were going well for them. He knew that four of them had already died, but without knowing how many of the enemies had died, he couldn't compare to see if they were winning or losing.

But he knew that he should probably go back to his room. Being in the open with prisoners roaming around while their allies were dying wasn't a good idea. He didn't think that the prisoners knew about the fact that they could escape if someone from Amodi died, but he didn't want to look vulnerable in front of them. It might cause unwanted problems.

Gritting his teeth, he left the common room and made his way to his bedroom, his left hand in his pocket. He didn't want the prisoners to ask any questions.

He also didn't want them to find out that Libya and Eritrea were dead. That was a revelation that could wait until _much_ later.

…

India was on his bed, curled up in discomfort. Four deaths. He hoped that those were the last deaths. Having so many deaths so soon after one another was really uncomfortable.

It also worried him. He knew that none of the deaths were Romano, but how long would that last? He was afraid for his lover. Perhaps _he_ should have gone instead of Romano.

…

Ethiopia and Peru were cuddling in the bed. They had at first attempted to partake in… _other_ activities, but once the deaths started, it became increasingly difficult to do that. So they decided to settle for holding each other.

And Ethiopia was upset about the deaths of Libya and Eritrea. Two of his friends were dead. First Egypt, now those two. Ethiopia was glad that Somalia didn't go, but…

"I'm happy you didn't go," Ethiopia muttered. "Remind me to thank Italy later."

Peru kissed Ethiopia on the forehead, holding him close.

"Do you think that I would have died?" Peru asked. "You should have a little more faith in me."

"Libya and Eritrea were killed," Ethiopia pointed out. "The two of them weren't weaklings."

"None of us are. Well, perhaps the former micronations, but they still have room to grow."

"Egypt had also been killed, and Canada. I don't want you to be in such a vulnerable position."

"Like if Canada had _actually_ succeeded in his plan," Peru sighed, burying his face in Ethiopia's hair. "I don't want you to feel the way I felt when Italy told me. But I… I also don't want to feel like that again. The fear, worry, anger… I don't want you to be in danger."

Ethiopia gave a small smile, and they tried to talk about trivial things in an effort to distract them from the ongoing battle, and all of the deaths that occurred.

…

Portugal was curled up on the armchair, not even paying attention to the movie anymore. He was cradling his head, and he bit his lip as the fourth burst of pain coursed through his body.

The others had also abandoned the movie, and were trying to coax him into telling them what was wrong. Mozambique, who was sitting next to him, had her hand on his shoulder.

"Miguel, what's going on?" Belgium asked.

Portugal took a deep breath, before he looked up. Everyone was shocked to see the fear in his eyes.

"I… I think I know where Romano went, and what they're doing," Portugal said. "Four members of Amodi had died today, and I get the feeling that there will be more."

"What are you talking about?" Equatorial Guinea asked.

Portugal swallowed thickly.

"The only way for so many nations to die in such a short amount of time, especially nations like Amodi…" Portugal said. "They've engaged their enemies in battle."

"I don't get it," Guinea Bissau said. "If they're dying, why do you look like you're afraid?"

"Because, if four of Amodi's nations were killed… How many of their enemies were killed? Because the fact that Romano is gone means that it wasn't a case of Amodi's enemies attacking. And we already saw how careful they are with their plans. Which means…"

"That there's a good chance that many of Amodi's enemies were killed as well," Luxembourg said. "And Amodi's enemies…"

"Oh no!" Angola wailed, realising what they meant.

"Lars…" Belgium whispered.

"Roberto…" Portugal said.

"No," Indonesia said, shaking his head. "They can't… If they die…"

"We're losing our friends and family," Sint Maarten said.

"I-if we're lucky, th-then they're just c-captured," Príncipe said. "W-we can't…"

"Being captured isn't much better," São Tomé snapped.

"Everyone, calm down," Timor said. "For all we know, things are going in our friends' favour. If four members of Amodi are dead…"

"But we still don't know how many of our friends have died," Cape Verde said. "You've seen Amodi in action."

Several of them shuddered. While the Africans had a peaceful takeover, the rest of them weren't so lucky. Portugal could vividly recall Spain's death. The brutality displayed… Indonesia and Timor remembered how India captured them. Belgium and Luxembourg recalled the trap. And so on.

Even if it _did_ go well for the others, there was still a huge possibility of many of them being killed. And since it was impossible to compare the deaths of Amodi and their enemies…

"I hate this," Portugal whispered. "I hate feeling so helpless when I _know_ that something is happening."

Everyone was quiet, no one knowing what to say. In truth, they were all worried. They knew of _some_ nations that were fighting against Amodi, but they didn't know about others. They didn't know if there were other friends that were involved, or if Amodi had already killed them. They didn't know how the war was going. They were kept in the dark. And it scared them, more than anything else.

For the first time, the nations knew what it was like to be a human in a war. To have friends or relatives fighting, and having no way of knowing whether or not they were still alive. It was torture.

And there was one other thing that scared them more than anything else: What would happen if Amodi _won_?

…

Greece glanced out the window, before biting his lip.

"It looks like the old man is having trouble," Greece said.

TRNC immediately looked worried, and Cyprus crept closer to see for himself.

"Do you think something's happening in his country?" Cyprus asked. "The way he's carrying himself… It looks like he's dizzy, and he seems to be a bit flushed."

Greece remained still for a while, before he stood, drawing his own sword.

"Stay here," he ordered the two brothers. "I'm going to help him."

Cyprus and TRNC looked at him with wide eyes, but Greece didn't give them a chance to comment. He quickly left the house, making sure that no one saw where he was leaving from, before he rushed to Turkey's side.

Switzerland only noticed him when it was difficult to dodge, and he quickly parried Turkey's blow in order to block Greece's.

"About time," Turkey said, huffing slightly.

Seeing him up-close, Greece could see that Turkey was sweating profusely. And it wasn't because of exertion. He also noticed that Turkey looked a bit pale.

"What's going on with you?" Greece asked.

"Fire in Istanbul," Turkey said hastily.

The older nation had recognised the younger's question as one of concern. There was no hostility.

Switzerland seemed to notice this, for he snorted.

"Since when do _you_ two get along?" Switzerland asked.

"You'll be surprised by what having a common enemy can do," Greece said.

"Really?"

Greece didn't like the smirk on Switzerland's face. There was something _too_ smug about it.

"Even after everything he's done to you?" Switzerland asked.

"That's the difference between you and us," Greece spat. "We can move on."

To his annoyance, Switzerland's smirk widened.

"Are you sure about that?" Switzerland asked. "Everything in the past plants a seed. Your entire life is a forest made up of seeds that grew."

"Where are you going with this?" Turkey demanded.

"One just needs to find the tree that sprouted from the right seed. Like, say, Greece's time with Egypt and Canada."

Greece tensed at the reminder, and Turkey narrowed his eyes.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Greece said. "It doesn't affect me anymore. That was nipped in the bud."

Switzerland chuckled.

"We'll see," Switzerland said. "Tegrof reven."

As soon as Greece heard those words, he screamed in pain, dropping his sword as he clutched his head. Turkey's eyes widened, before he rounded on Switzerland.

"What did you just do?!" he demanded.

"Canada and Egypt were clever," Switzerland said. "Their methods always contained a subliminal. A seed planted within a seed. So, in the event that the process was interrupted, and the victim taken out of the Washroom, all we'd need to do was say the trigger phrase to return the mind to its most vulnerable state. To the moment when the main goal of the indoctrination was introduced, and the victim can think of nothing else. And, above all, the main goal of the Washroom… Kill the non-Amodi."

Turkey's eyes widened when Greece turned to him, his face twisted in rage, though his eyes were completely blank. He reached down to his sword, before lunging at Turkey, and Turkey only had the presence of mind to raise his own blade, but it was in vain, as Greece's sword stabbed his heart.

Turkey grunted in pain, and he released his sword in order to grab Greece's wrists.

"Snap out of it," Turkey said. "Don't let them get to you."

Greece snarled, trying to wrench his wrists free. Turkey gritted his teeth, as Greece hadn't released his grip on the sword, thus wrenching the blade inside him.

"This only lasts a short while," Switzerland said, "but it will be long enough to kill you."

"Bastard," Turkey spat, before he kneed Greece in the groin.

 _That_ worked, and Greece fell to the ground. Turkey quickly snapped Greece's neck. It was only temporary, but perhaps when he revived, he would be back to his senses.

"Cyprus!" Turkey called out. "Get him out of here."

Switzerland just stood there, an infuriating smirk on his face as Cyprus came out of hiding. Cyprus threw Switzerland a quick glance before he crouched down next to Greece, throwing his arm around his shoulders. Turkey, meanwhile, pulled the sword out of his chest, wincing in pain. He was close to a temporary death himself, but he couldn't do it with Switzerland around. Because Switzerland would make sure that it became a _permanent_ death.

Switzerland's eyes narrowed as his smirk widened, and Turkey's eyes widened when Switzerland removed a handgun, but before he could do anything, he was tackled by Madagascar.

The island nation was unstable, and it was easy to see that movement came difficult to her. But since her previous opponent had been dispatched, she had been looking around to see if she could help somehow, and had noticed the scene between the Europeans. And just in time.

Switzerland snarled, trying to push her off of him. Cyprus shot her a grateful look, before he removed himself from the battlefield, supporting Greece's body.

Turkey was breathing deeply, his hand on his chest. He hoped that the wound would heal without him dying, but if he remained on the battlefield, he doubted that it would happen.

"Go," Madagascar ordered. "I'll take care of him. You need to heal. Unless you want to know what it's like to die for good. But take it from someone that knows, it's not pleasant."

Turkey pursed his lips, before glancing towards Switzerland, struggling underneath Madagascar, who was weaponizing dead weight and applying it in all the right places.

"Let's finish this first," Turkey said, taking out a dagger.

Switzerland's eyes widened in realisation, and his struggles increased.

…

South was grinning wildly as he toyed with Cambodia. The other nation was growing desperate. It was clear that South had the advantage, and he liked to gleefully remind Cambodia of that fact.

The grin fell as the ribbons appeared around his hands, and he jerked, as though he received an electrical shock. Cambodia, thinking that it was an opening for him, immediately launched his attack.

…Only for South to catch the sword, crushing it with his hand. Cambodia's eyes widened when he saw the look of pure rage on South's face, and he realised what had happened.

Switzerland had died, and now South was going off the deep end. And Cambodia was on the receiving end.

 **I also had to show the Amodi nations that weren't present for the battle, and their worry regarding the fates of their comrades. And Portugal being the opposite. He's worrying about the non-Amodi nations.**

 **And I'm going to expand a bit on Portugal's exact situation soon enough.**

 **I almost** _ **did**_ **kill Turkey off in this chapter, but then I decided against it. Greece still has a bit of issues. Oh, and the trigger phrase is 'never forget', only backwards. They needed something that wouldn't come up in casual conversation, and how often do people go around saying 'never forget' in reverse?**


End file.
